Cebu International Academy in Mactan is the finest place I have encountered, and am likely to encounter, in Philippines.
As previously documented, through what has been maybe my own doing, I have had my issues with Philippines and the people therein; please do not misunderstand me, this country is not an outrightly bad place, the fact that it fails to align with my morals, principles, and values, is not reason to assume that everyone who comes here will encounter the same upsets – my articles are my personal experiences, as they befell me.
Cebu International Academy is currently home to students from around the Asian continent – perhaps also beyond as nobody seems decided on whether Russia is Asia or Europe – from Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, China, Mongolia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Russia; brilliant young students all with a common goal – learning English.
Admittedly, my experiences in this country have been generally negative thus my impression of Philippines is ultimately undesirable yet, throughout the ordeal, CIA has been my place of refuge, my solace, my sanity; the words have been uttered more than once, “If I could live there, I would.”
At the start of the Philippines school year, January 3rd, Cebu International Academy had fewer than 200 staff to accommodate its 300-plus students – much of the teaching is one-on-one or ‘Man to Man’ – then, by the beginning of May, staff numbers had moved well past 200 and student numbers are now transcending 420.
Employed as a Native English teacher, I handle up to eight group-classes per day and, from my first day here, in all my life I have never felt so welcomed, accepted, respected, and supported; the CIA team – staff and students – truly are a wondrous cohort to have beside you.
Cebu International Academy is equipped to go strongly into the future of English teaching; with its staff of wonderfully skilled, passionate, and empathetic teachers, with its focus on maintaining a safe and happy environment for its students, with CIA’s purpose-built IELTS proctoring facility, this is truly an educational juggernaut of behemoth proportions.
As a premises, CIA is otherworldly; from my interview November 2022 then to my first day January 2023, the people have been amazing and, outside-office-hours Filipino grievances notwithstanding, as a workplace, I would not wish for better.
Undeniably, Cebu International Academy in Philippines is the future of English teaching around the world.
Article by Tim Walker
Edited by Manny Blessings
Photography by Velan D Love