Metropolitan Community College
Teachers, students ripped off: diplomas mean nothing to employers Ripoff

Although this "college" is approved by PCTIA, I don't know how it could possibly have been investigated propery prior to approval. When I applied for a teaching job there, there was just one staff member who did everything.

Its "President" hired me in October & told me I'd be starting in November (he lied). I made a major move to take the job. In November, he told me I'd start in January (he lied), and in January, he said I'd start in March (he lied again). I finally started in mid-April. Thank God I had family financial support.

From day one, I had to design and implement every bit of my course material except a couple of Grade 11-level text books. When I was hired, he told me the courses were "ready to teach". On what basis did PCTIA approve this guy's courses? I designed the course-work, the workbooks, the tests and the final exams, working very long hours and with no help whatsoever.

Students were charged thousands of dollars. They did not receive near the number of textbooks they were promised, nor did they receive the proper tools. The computers were almost always out of order; the printers rarely worked, and we had to wait days for a techie to fix them. The photocopier must have come from a garage sale... thank goodness there was a printing business across the street where I could photocopy for the students. He would encourage me to photocopy from texts which were sent to us as "review copies".

I was rarely paid on time, and I was always paid by cheque. I learned early that I'd have to rush to the bank the cheque was drawn on to be sure there was enough money in the account to get my wages .. which of course, were very low.

The classroom, which was a tiny place above a sporting goods store, was unbearably hot in summer. He didn't pay rent on time so, in deperation, the landlord cut the heat off in winter, and students were required to wear coats and gloves in class for months!

I never got my last paycheque. I gave up trying after he tried to scam the Employment Insurance Agency, so I had to wait three months for my first insurance payment. I couldn't pay rent or feed the pets or obtain the necessities of life. Again, my family helped. Employment Insurance workers said he wouldn't return calls or faxes. He didn't pay his share of CPP or EI, and tried to tell EI that I worked for him on as an independent contractor. Revenue Canada finally caught up with him and made him pay his back-taxes. But I was not so lucky. I had to pay all my taxes in one fell swoop because he didn't take them off my cheques.

The kicker was, when I left the college, he hired one of my worst students to teach the course!!! Now she's emailing me to ask how to design the course and get her paycheques. They were kicked out of the building for non-payment of rent and now lease a little classroom in another town, so students have to travel much further than anticipated to get to class.

Only two of my students got jobs, and it wasn't because they had a great diploma. They took very menial jobs initially, and thankfully are now working in the field they studied for. The others should not have been in the class... they would have failed miserably if I had anything to say about it, but the President said I must pass them all or lose my job. Word gets around, and employers will now not hire from this college. I hate to think what the present students will do after paying over $13, 000 for nothing!

Teacher
Mission, British Columbia
Canada

Company: Metropolitan Community College
Country: Canada
Province: British Columbia
City: Mission And Burnaby
Address: 7311 James Street And 3701 Hastings Street
Phone: 6048263107

  <     >