Foreign teachers 'hopeless' of having their salaries paid by Apax Leaders

Many foreign teachers say Apax Leaders owes them 100-120 million VND in unpaid wages, leaving them in dire straits, with almost no hope of getting their money back.

Avinash Soni, from South Africa, started teaching at an Apax Leaders center in 2019. A year later, the Covid-19 pandemic broke out. Soni said that the company initially promised to continue paying salaries, even if teachers taught online due to social distancing.

"It was quite shocking that the company later missed the payment deadline, but because other places were also facing difficulties, we teachers remained optimistic," he said.

Alexander Wood, an American, noted that the time when Apax Leaders began facing financial problems coincided with Vietnam implementing strict anti-epidemic measures to combat the pandemic.

"So, at that time, we were more worried about the pandemic and lockdowns than about our salaries," he said.

Ultimately, they and many of their colleagues have been owed wages to this day, with many struggling to make ends meet and losing faith in their jobs at English language centers. They also feel "hopeless" about receiving their salaries from Apax Leaders.

Apax Leaders English Center on Phan Xich Long Street, Phu Nhuan District, on the morning of March 26th. Photo: Dinh Van

Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Thuy, also known as "Shark Thuy," founded the Egroup ecosystem in 2008, spanning many fields, most notably the Apax Leaders chain of English language centers. At its peak, Apax Leaders reported having 120 centers nationwide, with approximately 120,000 students.

In late 2020 and 2021, parents in many provinces and cities simultaneously filed complaints against Apax Leaders because they had paid for their children's English classes but the courses were interrupted due to the closure of the centers.

To date, in Ho Chi Minh City, Apax Leaders owes tuition fees to 4,400 students, totaling approximately 94 billion VND. The center also owes teachers and staff 11.5 billion VND in salaries, along with 32 billion VND in social insurance contributions. Statistics for these figures nationwide are not yet available.

According to Avinash and Alexander, Apax currently owes them approximately 120 million VND each. Hannah Clemett, a British national, says she is owed two months' salary, totaling over 100 million VND, as of August 2021.

"This put significant financial pressure on me for a while, causing me a great deal of anxiety," she said.

Avinash and Clemett both left Apax Leaders afterward, but not everyone did. Callan Williams, originally from South Africa, said that around the end of 2021 and the beginning of 2022, most foreign teachers at Apax quit, but he stayed because he was afraid of not being able to renew his visa.

"I got married to my Vietnamese wife at the end of 2021 and had to wait several months to get a new visa. If I quit my job at Apax at that time, I would have had no choice but to leave Vietnam, and I wouldn't know when I would see my wife again," Callan explained, adding that Apax owes him more than 300 million VND.

"On my wedding day, I had no money left in my account. I felt incredibly ashamed that my wife and her family had to cover the entire wedding expenses. For almost a year, I was financially dependent on my wife," he said.

However, Callan asserted that he "is not the most severely affected." Some teachers are owed nearly 500 million dong, have no money for rent, and are homeless, while others were invited from abroad to Vietnam but then did not receive their salaries.

Callan Williams with students at an Apax Leaders center. Photo: Provided by the subject.

Alexander said that he and several colleagues at Apax Leaders filed a complaint with the authorities as soon as the Covid-19 lockdown measures were lifted.

At that time, he still owed about 200 million VND in unpaid wages. After much effort, he managed to recover 80 million VND. However, according to Alexander, some employees were less fortunate and have not received any money to this day.

Beth Maxwell, an English teacher, falls into this category.

"I sent countless emails, sought legal help, called the office. Everything was in vain. Eventually, Apax's HR department blocked my email address," Maxwell said. To this day, she has not recovered the 25 million VND and had to return to her home country.

For Oliver, a British man, the situation was no better. Owed by Apax with 120 million VND, Oliver had to spend almost all of his savings to make ends meet. He had contacted a lawyer who initially seemed willing to help. But after forwarding the relevant documents, the lawyer stopped responding to his emails.

"I went to Apax's new headquarters hoping to return to work, but as soon as I mentioned compensation paperwork or taxes, I saw all the doors quickly close before I could speak to anyone," Oliver recounted.

Another teacher, an American, stated that according to statistics compiled by a group of foreign teachers, Apax owes at least 81 people a total of 13.4 billion VND. The female teacher said she has initiated legal proceedings against Apax.

"Now that Mr. Thuy has been arrested, we have no hope of getting the money back."

Shark Thủy was arrested on March 25th on charges of fraud and misappropriation of assets in the transfer of shares at Egroup. Following this, Apax Leaders announced it would temporarily suspend confirming tuition fees and outstanding debts while authorities investigate. Currently, the chain has only 8 centers in operation, mainly in the North.

Alexander Wood with his colleagues at Apax Leaders. Photo: Provided by the subject.

Alexander Wood is concerned about the English language teaching industry in Vietnam. He believes that the negative impact of Shark Thủy's poor management, unpaid tuition fees to parents, and teacher salaries could lead to distrust of English language centers and institutions in general.

Other teachers also said their experience at Apax Leaders had eroded their confidence in working at English language centers.

"Trust shattered by Apax can never be fully rebuilt," shared Hannah Clemett, a British teacher. Beth, meanwhile, felt "fearful and wary working overseas."

Now that he's a father, Callan plans to stay in Vietnam, but he's no longer interested in the field of education .

"If there were any opportunities outside of teaching, I would be willing to change careers," he said.

Oliver found a new job at an international school. Like Callan, he had no intention of leaving Vietnam because he wanted to marry his Vietnamese girlfriend, but he didn't want to work for any language center.

"Working for a company where you can't even find your boss to talk to is a job I wouldn't want to do," according to Oliver.

Minh Nga

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