As Lantern says, TBI’s CELTA course has a decent reputation. However, the work permit regulations (English/Education degree) are being applied albeit haphazardly. Indeed, TBI themselves are finding it very difficult to recruit teachers who have these particular qualifications. I’ve also heard a (totally unsubstantiated as yet) rumour that a certain language chain may be pulling out of Indonesia as they can’t get work permits for their teachers.

Why would you consider working illegally? Aside from having no employee rights, you could be heavily fined, deported, and even imprisoned. OK, the latter is worst case scenario, but why risk it? With a BA and a CELTA you’ll be able to find work in almost any country in the world that requires English language teachers; unless you have a pertinent reason for being in Indonesia (i.e. family) I would look elsewhere for now and keep an eye on the situation to see if things change over the coming months.

Having said all that, it does seem to be just language schools such as TBI, EF, Wall Street etc who are having these visa difficulties. There are teaching jobs available in National Plus schools but most of these will have already recruited for the new school year. Furthermore, from what I’ve seen, teachers usually work their way up to these types of jobs. They spend a year or two at a language school and when they have some experience and, perhaps more importantly, some contacts they move into teaching at actual schools. I’m not saying you couldn’t get a job at one of these schools, but it’s unlikely and therefore a big gamble for you to come over on the slim chance of landing one of these positions.

Sorry if all that comes across as a bit negative, but I think it’s best to be realistic – forewarned is forearmed and all that.