Job Discussion Forums

[A.Graham]

Three months ago a post appeared on these boards warning teachers to give this company (also known as CAE Al Khobar) a wide berth. I endorse those views, having been that writer's (nickelgoat) successor. Nothing has changed. If anything, with an utterly inept and power-mad Foundation Director, things may have got worse. Teachers are regularly fired over trivial infractions, few - if any - of which involve poor teaching. (All of those teachers were the most professional and dedicated I have ever worked with.) One, probably the most popular teacher in the place, was fired for 'too many hospital visits'. Apparently a hernia operation was deemed too insignificant an excuse to merit the slightest compassion. Another was forced out because he had the temerity to enforce attendance, in accordance with the CEO's wishes. I was 'terminated' because I refused to sign the contract the company was already in breach of; even by week twelve of my employ I had not received medical insurance. In short, this place is just another Saudi education disaster zone, with incompetent and oblivious managers frequently contradicting each other: the CEO making pompous pronouncements about 'our global vision' and 'our unique brand' and the FD, publicly obsequious to his superior while privately ridiculing him. Do not get caught out by the mixed messages, as I and others have been.

[voyagerksa]

Arabs are such a joy to work with! You can get in trouble for not enforcing attendance enough, or being lax on attendance because the Arab students will gang up when they have to be responsible for their actions. These two problems can and will occur at the same time. Any trouble frequently means being fired. NET's are viewed as easily dispensable, "only the best for us". Of course the ability and quality of the students and school management is appalling. It's a no win situation in Saudi Arabia.

[nickelgoat]

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[A.Graham]

I too have worked in KSA before, and it says something for OxfordSaudia's appalling lack of professionalism that I actually became nostalgic for the likes of NITI and EdEx! At least with both you knew where you stood: the former with its banana-republic style corridor patrols, absurdly frequent teacher observations and demented insistence on throwing out any trainee should he be more than a minute late; the latter with an Academic Director who was a dipsomaniac and a convicted felon. I have never, in all my thirty years in the profession, come across such a shoddy, disgraceful and ramshackle outfit as CAE, dismissing or 'letting go' staff whom any reputable organisation would be desperate to keep: a teacher I worked with at Bilkent University and highly competent, resigned (or perhaps did so to avoid being fired) because, as he put it: 'The Foundation Director threw me under a bus.' His crime? To be told by the FD to be strict with attendance and then, when the students complained, promptly abandoned to his fate. His successor, the most conscientious teacher I have ever worked with, simply followed the CEO's directive to do the same and was fired on the spot. There is an unholy marriage of control-freakery (on the part of the CEO) and craven acquiescence to student power (on the part of the FD) that makes OxfordSaudia a very unpleasant place to work in.

[nickelgoat]

Is this school still running one year after I left? Just curious as I know a main teacher had to leave due to stress, etc. Have these people finally learned how to manage a school properly?

[wblows]

Reminds me of Niagara College in Mecca, it's a total scam. a place full of unprofessional and toxi management. who steal money buy claiming fake overtime. they love to bully new staff, and old staff are leaving due to stress and illness. disgraceful bunch of racist management towards white and arab teachers.