Job Discussion Forums

SaharaDesert · Joined: 05 Nov 2008 Posts: 260

Hello,

Just wondering what it is like to live and teach in Bahrain ?
You can PM me if you wish.....

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

There are not many British or US teachers working there. Salaries are lower and living costs higher than at the other end of the King Fahd Causeway. Serious civil unrest and problems with the Shia population.

British Council have a large centre and they employ a fair number of teachers as well as part-time Cambridge examiners for IELTS, FCE etc

balqis · Joined: 30 Jul 2006 Posts: 373

The country is very interesting. The students, a thing unknown in the Gulf, have strong political views, which they air, if they gain your trust. Striking and powerful Ashoora ceremonies, if someone is mindful of religion. Shia are very different - the essence of their existence is resisting with all their strength, their powerful hearts are black with mourning, and this resistance you will know from your students, unless you work for an institutions which caters for Sunnah exclusively. Power in the country doesn't belong to Shia, though they form the majority. This you will also know and see. Most of your students will have Shia names and the boys will wear thin green bands on their wrists during Muharram and Ashoora, which is illegal. Half of the island is a pre-Islamic burial ground. If I know rightly, the island used to be the burial necropolis of ancient Mesopotamia.
Great island and beautiful to look at, but the beauty is austere and apprehensive; yet powerful indeed.
balqis