True. But, without a degree his/her options will be limited. Plus, free room and board ain't nothin' to turn your nose up at. It's way more than lots of people have in that country.
Sure. But I would never work for such a company, because usually these are the companies that are scamming people. The free appartment will be one of the cheapest and dirtiest one, when you need to renew your visa, they will say that its no problem to renew it, but 1 month before the visa is expired they say they dont know how it works, tell you to go to HK and if you have too much visas there, you are fucked.
Not to mention you are actually not allowed to work without a business or work visa.
And then they earn like 50.000-60.000 with you, if they just pay you 5000. Such schools are the worst, but foreigners like to go there, because they think there wont be any problems. Then somehow the last salary is not paid, you cant renew your visa, the "meals" you should get are 12RMB meals at some cheap shop etc.
That is why I think that people who want to teach in China apply for a good school. There are a lot of good ones like EMF, Xindongfang (New Oriental) or even Wall Street English, where they do not try to scam you.
The degree you need is actually for a working visa, since most cities require you to have a university degree so they can apply a working visa for you.
Without a working visa, you should still be careful and you should know you are actually working illegaly in China. I know 2 girls where the PSB cancelled the study-visa they had, because they were teaching and earning some money.