I'm rather astonished that the British Council has assisted such a disreputable foreign employer to hire UK citizens to teach English abroad!

Years and years ago I remember travelling by rail from Scotland to Manchester to attend an interview conducted by a representative of the education ministry of Botswana and two employees of the British Council for maths/science high school vacancies in Botswana. It transpired that I was rejected, and therefore I was somewhat disappointed at the time. However, in retrospect I think it was a huge blessing in disguise.

The BC were very thorough when it came to vetting job applicants in those days, considerably more thorough than VSO were. If a job applicant couldn't produce two teaching testimonials, he/she had little chance of being accepted. In addition, I discovered that a character reference wasn't held in the same esteem as it was by VSO.

I'd have thought the British Council would have applied similar strict selection criteria as regards potential employers before trying to assist foreign employers to fill teaching vacancies abroad. Obviously I was wrong!