Job Discussion Forums

[nowasta]

Most people on here will be dealing with the Ministry of Higher Ed. Apparently they contact your respective university and ask them how you were registered so it doesn't matter if your diploma/transcripts don't say distance mode etc.. They are not accepting any distance or external degree unless you do a minimum of 6 months of in-country/on-campus residency. The university must verify this. With respect to HCT, they may only accept certain distance degrees but it doesn't really matter because you will likely have to verify them later on with the Ministry of Higher Ed. and they are the ones that won't recognize them. Then you will be out of a job. This is precisely what is currently happening throughout the UAE government, MLI and at many int'l K-12 schools. Things could very well get much worse from here on in before they get any better folks.

[tefllifer]

Hello,
The only places with a stated problem vis a vis distance MAs are the UAE schools and MLI - anything about other places (ZU, HCT, UAEU, etc.) is only hearsay and gossip at this point.
HCT still hires people with BAs and then encourages them to do MAs. UAEU/HCT still pay an increment I believe when people gain another MA by DL. Yes, this could change, but it would wipe out a large percentage of HE teachers here. The HE places don't discriminate between one ACCREDITED MA DL prog and another AT THIS POINT. HCT promotes e-learning - so that would really be a case of double standards, wouldn't it?
It's not just a question of on-line degrees as someone pointed out - some DL degrees were around before the internet explosion and assignments were written in blood, sweat and tears by folk in remote parts of the world without access to the internet.
Suggest we focus on the places WITH the problem and keep quiet about places which don't have the problem in the hopes it will continue not to be a problem.
What's the solution - a direct appeal to the Sheikh I reckon - but how can that be done?

[Gordon]

Such wonderful news as I'm about to begin a distance Masters degree at USQ and am interested in teaching in UAE one day.
I think as distance masters become more and more prevalent in the future the Ministries may recognize distance learning. Maybe this is more wishful thinking.

[4sure]

[nowasta]

I am also in favor of class-action and I think it should be done in the UAE. I think if the numbers are substantial then not only could costs be kept at reasonable levels but someone higher-up (a Sheikh perhaps) might be sufficiently embarrassed or at least take notice!! In addition, remember the old expression..."safety in numbers". After all, what does it really matter if everyone with so-called distance degrees can't work in the UAE anway. Not that things in the UAE always make sense but this situation is totally absurd.

[abudhabi]

[4sure]

[rjones]

I, like Pat, also work at HCT, and I have inquired as to recognition of online Masters degrees. I was told by a personnel officer--that inquired to the central personnel office--that online degrees were recognized by the Ministry of Higher Education and HCT if they are legitimate. Any degrees that are suspect are subsequently investigated. Furthermore, I have a distance Masters degree from USQ in Applied Linguistics and I was just interviewed for a permanent position at HCT. I passed the interview and am now in the pool of those eligible for employment. I also personally know several people who currently work in the HCT system with the exact same degree as myself.

As for naturegirl321, if he/she has evidence to the contrary I might like to be advised (as I'm up for a position myself). That is, exactly where did this information originate about not recognizing online degrees? Do you have someon's name here in the UAE I could check with? School names? Publications? Email addresses? If I were to obtain this kind of information, I might be able to muster some more evidence to support or refute it.

From this vantage, there seems no reason to think that someone with a distance Masters (as long as it's not a Cracker Jack degree) cannot work in the UAE--myself being the current case in point.

[tefllifer]

Thanks for the clarification of HCT policy rjones.
There is so much supposition and hearsay about this issue that it is good to hear from someone in the HCT system, who has asked the right questions to the right people.
As I said in a previous post - the places with the problem are MLI and the UAE schools AT THIS POINT and to my knowledge. Tertiary (Min of HE) places don't seem to be affected - don't know about places like the Police College, Inst. of Nursing, etc., and don't know about private sector places. Anyone have any info about U/Sharjah, AUS, U/Ajman and so on?

[4sure]

[Stephen Jones]

Perhaps when you've sobered up Laurent, you can tell us what your post meant, and what it had to do with the rest of the thread.

[byromaniac]

The UAE Ministry of Education and Ministry of Higher Education do not accept any distance degrees from any country. It is already causing problems for many teachers and when it is implemented country-wide it will be an absolute nightmare. It means that no foreign workers with any type of distance degree will be able to work in the UAE.

Isn't it interesting that in a time when education by distance has become the norm for the REST of the world, this little gem of a country decides to stand against the tide and says NO WAY to any and all distance education? Determination like this simply has to be admired.

Dang! Maybe I should have just gone ahead and spent the 20, 000 Australian dollars on a whole bunch of alcohol and perhaps a few "post- federation-of-Russian-countries" night butterflies.

Seriously though, if what nowasta is saying is true, I can understand MOHE's and MOE's reluctance to attest distance degrees, what with the availability on the internet of 1000 dollar (or less) PhD degrees available with no effort involved.

At the same time, I find it interesting browsing through the acedemic staff pages of the different university and college websites based here in the UAE - one hell of a lot of distance education (absolutly no residency required) at the Masters level and PhD level represented here! One name that seems to come up quite often is the University of Phoenix. Mmm. Where do I sign up?

[veiledsentiments]

Byromaniac

Up to a month ago, the Ministry of Higher Education DID accept distance degrees. It was only the Ministry of Education (primary, secondary, and military related schools) that was not accepting them.

So, where does your change of information come from?? Source?? Has there been a new article in the newspapers? Do you know of anyone that has had this affect them in tertiary education?

VS

[byromaniac]

Hi VS,

The first paragraph was actually a quote (gone wonky because I accidently cut the html stuff from it) from nowasta, above. I see now that no wasta has edited his post.

That message was my source of information. I hope things have changed and there is a more tolerant view of distance edu. I have not yet tried to get my degree attested, first it's pretty fresh, (I just graduated in July and the ceremony is on October 8th) and second I got a job already with it as it is. I was advised to get it attested because it: "will bring you a significantly higher salary next year".

Byro

[Chris_Crossley]

I have been living and working in China for almost three years now, but I am considering both taking an online master's degree in education and teaching in the UAE within the next five years, so I was quite surprised when, even though this is the first time I've entered the UAE forum (I usually inhabit the China ones), I came across this very thread.

Having read all the messages up to now (and very carefully, I hope), it does seem an absolute worry if the UAE MOE and MOHE are sending out what appear to be conflicting messages to expatriates about the validity and acceptability of postgraduate degrees done through distance learning from outside the country when, like others, it appears to be promoting its own e-learning programmes.

I have heard of USQOnline and I know that it does offer a master's degree in education, so I was somewhat concerned, to say the least, when I read about Australian distance degrees being given the thumbs-down by the aforementioned education ministries - or at least in the first few messages on this thread, anyway.

rjones wrote: