13 Comments on Caledonian School Czech Republic

Adam on Mon, 3rd Dec 2007 6:11 am


ref to other comment

Comments on rate of pay and computer problems are fair, however:

It is very easy to get 15-35 hours a week. You just show you are willing to accept what is offered to you.

Benefits are poor – no true health insurance, poor sick pay, limited paid vacation, low chance of hours during the summer months.

However, paid travel pass, and your rent is deducted from your taxable income.

Excellent library resources, fairly well equipped classrooms.

Teaching staff consist of a mixture of patient, honest and professional teachers, together with the usual group of naive, lazy, off-to-see-Europe expats.

Scott on Thu, 20th Dec 2007 6:29 am


WARNING – BEWARE: The government of the Czech Republic starting 1 January 2008 will be clamping down Hard (arrests, massive fines, deportation from the Entire European Union and possible prison)for non EU teachers/workers working on a Tourist Visa. The arrest have already started and are well publicized in Prague, CZ.

No school can promise you a Legal job, unless you already have both a CZ Residence Permit and the proper working papers, which now must be obtained from outside the Czech Republic and may take up to one year to obtain!

Till then, you may be working illegally if working on a tourist visa. A major continuing problem for the many Czech language schools, so check with your embassy for the correct information for your country of citizenship.

Currently (2008), the Caledonian School TEFL Certificate and TEFL Course: ARE NOT Accredited by any government or accredited academic institution! Do Not be fooled by such ‘Advert Speak’ as ‘Recognized’ which means nothing academically and maybe Nothing to possible future employers either. ‘In cooperation with’ may well mean that all they do is buy some books, etc. from certain companies.

In the TEFL world today, most employers are not hiring teachers unless their TEFL certificates are from a properly Accredited and Anglophile institution. Maybe a lot of money for a perhaps useless piece of paper.

Current pay for new teachers at this school (2008) range from 160 – 195 Czech Crowns per hour. As a teacher the rule of thumb is to figure 1 hour of preparation time for every class hour worked and twice that for writing classes.

Many teachers are paying 6 -10,000 kc per month to Share an apartment with 3-5 other teachers. The Cost of Living in Prague is swiftly climbing to EU norms. Check out apartment prices on http://www.expats.cz and see for yourself.

jonathan on Mon, 21st Jan 2008 4:11 pm


Just to clarify the pay at Caledonian: 200-225 kc per 45 minute lesson. Average lessons per week are 20-26. They do pay for %50 of the visa and cover your medical bills. It’s actually a good school but the posters above must have had a bad experience.

Jackie on Sat, 15th Mar 2008 5:05 pm


any comments about the preschool – Nessie?

Prague Expat on Fri, 27th Jun 2008 2:31 am


I worked for them for 4 months while they were ‘processing’ my visa. The entire time they deducted social and health insurance fees from my salary (and ‘tax’) and yet they had never started the visa process. When I discovered I had no visa after 90 days and actually no work permit or anything, I jumped ship on them.

Houdini on Thu, 23rd Oct 2008 10:05 pm


I worked for those clowns many years ago. They were supposed to meet me at the airport and never did (scary when you have never been to CZ). They were supposed to drive my to Moravia and did not for several weeks. They were supposed to arrange an apartment for me with an expat and never did. They were supposed to do a lot of things they never did. The country is beautiful and I made a lot of friends. The school is the only bad memory. Oh yes, I have taught in the west and in other European schools and never had a problem, just with the Caledonian clowns…

Ron on Fri, 7th Nov 2008 9:26 am


I currently work for them (+2 years) and I’ve had nothing but good experiences. They are well organized, professional and very helpful. I’m sure problems occurred in the past but everything seems to run smoothly now. It’s a great school to work for!

Houdini on Thu, 13th Nov 2008 8:39 pm


Re: the last email. This comment may be true. One interesting thing though, they seem to be paying 20,000 KC still after 10 years! You can find this out yourself by using Google key words – Caledonian school complaints. I have no axe to grind as I have a great job now, a house and all that jazz. Just warning people to be careful after my own expereince, which was pretty bad with those chaps. You don’t have to listen to me, but try researching on the Net and make an informed decision about your teaching future. Good luck to all. PS: A friend of min ended up doing well for himself by getting all kinds of credentials and going out on his own in CZ as a teacher – ended up in Brno. Could be a route to pursue as would be working for a smaller outfit that wants to get to know you, etc.

Ron on Mon, 8th Dec 2008 7:12 am


20,000kc 10 years ago was 400 USD but today it’s almost over 1,000 USD. This is the same with all schools in the Czech Republic and it is a problem. Obviously you can’t regard this as a negative issue for 1 school if all others in the country are doing it. I Googled ‘Caledonian school complaints’ but didn’t see what you were referring to or any creditable complaints at all. Better luck next time

Ethan on Sun, 11th Jan 2009 10:16 pm


I’m looking to take the TEFL certification course at this school. Is there anybody who is currently involved or has been involved with Caledonian that would be willing to swap some emails with me? If so just contact me here and I’ll give you my email. Thanks!

Ron on Wed, 14th Jan 2009 9:43 am


You can email me if you like. I took the course and I work for the school now. longronsilver30@yahoo.com

Peter on Mon, 16th Feb 2009 3:10 pm


I had no complaints working for Caledonian Prague from jan -dec 2006. Being an EFL teacher working abroad you really can’t to enjoy all the comforts of home, the trade off is that you get to enjoy the culture of a foreign land from a localised, not tourist, perspective. Because I wanted to earn more Czech crowns to get out and enjoy the country, I had to take on a fair share of 7.30am start lessons which were tough, and also a fair amount of metroing about for off-school lessons. All of this wears ya down when you have to run an English lesson at either end…The good thing is how hospitable Czech students are and lessons themselves were usually good humoured and that. I had no concerns with the admin or management of the school in fact the true-to-life reputation of Caledonian in Prague is that teachers can easily stay under the radar and entirely do as they please during their contracts as long as you turn up to lessons as scheduled and stick to prescribed book curriculum with a bit of friendly chat thrown in to lessons as well. Don’t expect to be mothered at all in the Czech Republic, it is dynamic and you will need to be as well.

Eva on Thu, 25th Jun 2009 3:14 am


I’ve been teaching ESL in Prague for two years, and know many ESL teachers who work at various English schools in Prague. I never worked for Caledonian. That said, I can recall many, MANY discussions chatting over a few pints with fellow Prague ESL teachers who did work at Caledonian who had numerous complaints regarding that school. Among the complaints were rude, impersonal staff; very high teacher turnover (never a good sign); and below average pay relative to other schools; and an oppressive and intimidating, authoritarian management style of treating new teachers. When I was first looking for work as a teacher in Prague, I recall applying to several schools, among them Caledonian–which had an unusually tedious and bureaucratic application process–relative to the other schools. This fact (combined with offering a lower starting salary) made me not even bother applying to them. I would not recommend Caledonian. They are a large corporate franchise also in Bratislava; your efforts working there will line the pockets of Caledonian management and its owners–while you scrape by living hand to mouth.

ps: of course Caledonian trolls will try to refute this post…be forewarned!

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