It's a gamble

Reading other tutors experiences before joining Educo gave me reassurance that I would most likely be signing up for a positive and rewarding experience. Unfortunately, my experience with this company was not as pleasant.

Despite the unprofessional experience I had with this company, many reviews of good experiences may be genuine due to the fact that not all tutors receive the same treatment. It's a 50/50 chance of having an unforgettable summer or dealing with unprofessional treatment from the people in management positions.

During my first two weeks of camp I was placed in a unfair situation at a camp involving my camp directors. The situation was taken out of context and the treatment I received from my camp directors were unprofessional and appalling. We resolved the issue internally with the camp directors and myself.
However, despite Educo management's knowledge about the situation, given to them by the camp directors without me knowing, assumptions were made without consulting me with my side of the situation. Educo had not contacted me throughout the following weeks to clarify my part, instead I experienced a string of events that confirmed that I would be treated unjustly by Educo based on misconceptions.

I decided to send a formal complaint to management but sadly no response was sent back to me regarding my concerns. My situation was brushed off as not a big deal and I was left feeling unfairly judged by some tutors and management. My greatest disappointment with this company was false rumors spreading around amongst tutors about my situation.
It took three weeks for someone from management to address the situation with me. The conversation consisted of blame shifting and lack of eye contact from the person from management. No accountability was taken from Educo regarding their lack of communication and unprofessional handling of my situation. Educo failed to mediate a fair resolution. In terms of the rumors, I expressed that only someone from management who is aware of the situation could speak about these private matters with tutors. It was not shocking to me that the response was "not knowing how it could get out to tutors" and essentially brushing the seriousness of it under the rug. It was a defamation of my character and left me feeling uncomfortable.

In summary, my situation with Educo's unprofessional and unfair treatment is one of many other situations that occurred to other tutors. I cannot speak on their behalf but I can speak on what I experienced and give an honest review for others looking into joining Educo. The biggest points to take away with this company is that not everyone receives the same opportunities regarding the location of camps, the amount of camps you are assigned to and the support you receive from management.

I was placed in only two camps throughout a six week period and was told that there aren't many camps to place tutors in as the weeks went by. There are tutors that have been placed in less number of camps and placed on hold for a much longer period of time. My camps were both in Milan so be prepared to not get to see different locations throughout Italy unless you take a personal hold at your own expense. I spent a lot more money on food than expected when Educo placed me on hold twice (with only a €50 stipend per week). Lack of communication was also an issue where I was left on read most times.

The few positives I experienced during my time was the friendly hospitality from my host families and the friendships I formed with some of the tutors. I hope that my situation can be a learning tool for Educo and that no other tutor experiences the same treatment in the future. I believe that Educo has the potential to do better and deal with each situation in the future with more professionalism and transparency.