Job Discussion Forums

[Tom Cat]

Some friends of mine still working in KSA report that the government is finally taking drastic action to Saudify the work force. They say that no work visas are being renewed. Now, they don't work in TESOL and I would expect teachers to be exempt from this exclusion, but you never know. Is the Saudization push affecting teachers at places like Aramco, KFUPM, and the IPA?

-Tom

[johnslat]

Dear Tom Cat,
I can only answer for the IPA, but here I suppose it could be said that we've been increasingly " Arabized " over the past few years. About 1/4 of our staff now are from various Arab countries, North African, mostly. But this, I think, is more the result of not being able to hire " native speakers " rather than any " Arabization " policy. By the way, these guys are good teachers, too. They know their stuff and are excellent colleagues.
Regards,
John

[scot47]

Saudiization ( no one knows how to spell it) has been the goal of the government here for a long time. There are Saudi teachers of English who, like teachers anywhere, vary in competence. But generally speaking, if a Saudi national has good enough English to teach he can get a better job doing something else. Teaching is not a favourite choice of young Saudi males when asked what they want to do.

For Saudi females it is different since there are restricted opportunities in the job market.

I would say foreigners will be safe in EFL here for a while, but this is a land of surprises !