Job Discussion Forums

[manonatrain]

The proof of salaries in the middle east
can be found in the pockets of teachers working for
REPUTABLE employers.

Sultan Qaboos friends
make 900 950 plus... Medical College friends have sweet deals
and Polygot used to pay a lot more than it does now.

Crap schools pay crap. You live in crap conditions and
you hear �stories�. Any school in Oman paying less than 800 to 1000
as a starting point is probably going to be HELL to work at. And
the quality of the establishment will most definitely be in question.

There are several places which do not pay well as Oman is still
developing. Thus the term THIRD WORLD. An oil nation third
world you ask.

YUP EM...it is new to education in general. The cowboy schools and Univeristies are there, taking advantage of The Sultan Qaboos
finacial incentives to help THE PEOPLE.

There is one school which is notoriously dodgy. SHALL I NAME IT!

Why bother. It is all over this board. The people who run it
are criminal, and if you notice their advertisements. The salaries
keep CHANGING, so do the terms.
A sign of instability
both high and low.

[kaw]

Oh dear - really don't know what you are on but maybe you should get off the train and do something useful.
The proof of salaries in the middle east
can be found in the pockets of teachers working for
REPUTABLE employers

Quote:

[color=#444444][/color - that is not entirely true - there are some establishments here in Oman with very god reputations but who are paying very little. Even SQU aren't paying that much this year. CfBT do pay well but as they are not a Higher Education Establishment but work more as an agency this is to be expected. I have researched several employers and they are all paying pretty mch the same

[kaw]

Oh dear - really don't know what you are on but maybe you should get off the train and do something useful.
The proof of salaries in the middle east
can be found in the pockets of teachers working for
REPUTABLE employers[quote]
[color=#444444][/color - that is not entirely true - there are some establishments here in Oman with very god reputations but who are paying very little. Even SQU aren't paying that much this year. CfBT do pay well but as they are not a Higher Education Establishment but work more as an agency this is to be expected.
I have researched several employers and they are all paying pretty mch the same.
Don't know if you are still over here and maybe you are one of the lucky ones who came over when salaries were better than now but pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeese get your facts right.

[manonatrain]

Well, I have seen where you are posting from.
It is no wonder you are being offered LOWER
salaries. How many teachers do you actually
know in the Sultanate ? I know a lot, and even
a few in the rural outposts. I do know what I am
talking about.

[veiledsentiments]

Sorry Manonatrain,

I have been involved with teaching in Oman since the mid-1980's and have dozens of friends still teaching there. I must say that I am also not impressed by your accuracy. It appears that you have a particular beef with a particular college and choose to use this board to vent.

Oman has always had the lowest salary ranges in the Gulf. This is obviously going to be necessary since they are not anywhere near as wealthy as the other Gulf countries. They have only a fraction of the oil of the UAE, Kuwait or KSA. This added to the exploding numbers of students clamoring for an education and a job means that salaries have been stagnant or dropping. SQU is bursting at the seams and thus, all these private colleges are appearing. Naturally not all of them are as legit as we would like (also a growing problem in the UAE).

So my advice to people looking in Oman is if money is your only goal, perhaps Oman is not the country for you. There are acceptable jobs there that pay lower than 800 OR. The advantage of a board like this is that people can hopefully learn about any place that seems to be moving too rapidly towards teacher abuse. Also teachers without MAs or many years of experience will be hard pressed to get up to 800 OR.

Oman is without a doubt the most fascinating country in the Gulf. It has the friendliest people and the nicest students that I have ever dealt with. Is it perfect? Of course not, but if someone is expecting perfection and big bucks, stay away. The rest of the teachers there don't really want to listen to the constant whinging from this sort of expat.

vs

[manonatrain]

What I wrote in fact that there ARE schools which pay less than 800.
Quite a few of them. I just believe that these often prove to
be the crap schools. There are some real loser schools out there too.
some okay and some great.

Do I have any beefs, no I have just heard first hand stories from
my friends. Shocking for Oman.

I get paid around the 1000 omr mark, have been here 2 years,
live in a good flat, drive a car and recieve a nice allowance for
it. I save decent money. But I have to agree a move to the UAE will
gross me more money.

I suggest that if you want to teach in Oman, try for the better jobs,
other wise you won�t stay long, and you won�t be able to come back
for at least 2 years. Better to hold out for the good jobs, that is IF you
are QUALIFIED.

I still don�t know how you can question my posts perhaps you
are justifying crap jobs. Teacher trainers make upwards or 1200 to 1400 omr...some of whom I know. I consider myself AVERAGE.

You must admitt there is no excuse to protect the horrible intitutions here.
WHY, to make a few people feel good about where they are at. When the
rest of the Sultanate is laughing at them.

Believe me, Sur University has the WORST reputation in OMAN.

Lets move on to more interesting topics. This thread has run its course.

[veiledsentiments]

Ah well --- you have finally made it more clear that a major point of your original posting was to attack Sur University. No disagreement there. That place sets some kind of record for going downhill at mach speed. I have yet to find a word of support from anyone for that place in years.

But I still find your idea of normal salaries overblown. The people that I know who make much over 1000 OR have been there for ten years or more. I would say that the vast majority of EFL jobs start between 700 and 800 OR. Last I heard at SQU in 2001, it was 800 to start for most everyone in the LC. Plus I know many teachers who have completed contracts with one school and moved on to another without ever leaving the country (in 2001). I have heard of the rule, but it seems to be regularly broken. I do know some teachers who were refused this, and I also understood why. Just like everywhere in the world, one must be careful of who you make your enemy.

The jobs in the higher ranges are for some teacher trainers or materials writers. Let's face it, most teachers are neither. Those that are should expect that level of pay, those that aren't need to be more realistic. You make no distinction as to education or experience.

There are definitely jobs that could be described as 'crap' (to use your term) at all levels of the pay scale. That has never been disputed. It is easy to question your posting because blanket criticisms such as yours do not tend to be helpful. There are certainly places one wouldn't recommend. If so, point them out and give details when asked.

I prefer to tell people considering jobs anywhere in the Middle East to try to communicate with ex-teachers and current teachers at any place that offers them a position. And I wouldn't consider a job where I couldn't do that. Then they can decide if they feel the pay is adequate based on what they have learned from this board or elsewhere. The fact that some teachers may be out in the hinterlands snickering is probably not relevent to them.

VS

[kaw]

Thanks vs for backing up what I said.
For the record I do know the grammar and spelling was pretty awful - something to do with spending too much time in the classroom maybe Actually was in a mad rush to get to class.
On the subject of SUC - it's not ALL bad - ok a lot of it isn't great but there are some good points - like being paid to sit in your office all day and play around on the internet - oops didn't mean to say that actually meant to say we are being (rightly) paid to sit in out ofices and catch up with mountains of paperwork.
Vs - do disagree slightly with your "no-one has said a good thing about SUC for years" - it's only a couple of years old so there can't be too much.

Oman is a great place to live and work in - if you can get into the right institution - but even in them - nothing is ever perfect.

Lunchtime now - then it's back to work - what joy

kaw

[veiledsentiments]

Hi KAW

I never made it out to Sur to see the new university. One friend took a job there and left over the salary cuts. Mostly on this board I have read repeated complaints about the gradual erosion of pay levels (it seemed for awhile that every new person was getting a lower rate than the previous) and the poor housing that many were unhappy about. I know that they lost some good people in the past years over it. I thought this summer was the end of the third year, but maybe the first year batch of teachers were there before the students - getting organized so to speak.

How fortunate that there is now the internet to fill those endless hours that so many places in the gulf now require one to sit about the office. I prefer the good old days when we were treated more like professionals and came and went according to our teaching schedules. If you taught 15 hours, you only had to be there for them and your 3 office hours. Correction and preparation was something that you did when and where you wished. I always preferred to do it at home where there was peace and quiet. Those that were married with children usually used their offices. I find it illogical that teachers are required to be there from 7:00 to 2 or 3 or 4:00 if they are only in the classroom for two hours or whatever. It is not as though we have letters to write to clients or telephones to answer. But, this seems to be the psychology of current education in much of the Middle East these days.

So, I assume you are in Sur. As I recall that is one of the few parts of Oman where the women traditionally wear facial veils. Are they allowed to wear them in class? I had some Sur students at SQU and they told me that it was only on campus that they uncovered their faces as required by the administration.

VS

[jp20030]

Sur University College = Al RAKAIB Institute Muscat
Beware!