Pros
Sometimes you can cancel your class. The Japanese staff and students are friendly.
Cons
Because this school has somehow passed itself off as a place for independent contractors, it is able to flout all kinds of labor laws. As a result...
- The pay is abysmal compared to other schools.
- They provide no benefits or support.
- They exploit their teachers shamelessly.
Gaba gets away with paying people such low wages because they've developed a system that requires little to no experience or ability. Each lesson is a very precise step-by-step program that a person without any experience could follow. Essentially, they have turned ESL teaching into an unskilled position so they can pay much, much less than real schools do. This is why so many teachers at Gaba have no teaching experience and no bachelor's degree. I don't look down on people like that, but it's telling that Gaba targets them.
Gaba also hires a lot of people from non-native English speaking countries. Of course, I think that would normally be great because those teachers are highly qualified and fluent in English. However, Gaba does not hire these people to be inclusive. In my opinion, they do it because they know they can pay such people less. It's exploitation, plain and simple.
There are countless wonderful English schools in Japan. I have taught at quite a few and had great experiences at every one of them except for Gaba. Many schools will be happy to have you and will treat you well. Find those schools and stay away from Gaba.