Job Discussion Forums

[wilberforce]

http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=396641&version=1&template_id=36&parent_id=16

[wilberforce]

Verdict in school case put on hold

The verdict in the ongoing case against Oxford English School (OES) has once again been postponed, this time until after Eid al-Adha in November.
Earlier during the final hearing in July, when a verdict was expected, the judge had postponed the ruling until October 13, allowing the school in the meantime to continue its operations.
�On the last hearing day, the judge came in and postponed the proceedings until November 25. We don�t know why the delay happened,� a school official told Gulf Times.
The school has challenged a Supreme Education Council (SEC) directive, issued on May 12, asking it to cease operations from July 30.
The public notification issued on May 12, on behalf of the Minister of Education and Higher Education and SEC secretary general HE Saad bin Ibrahim al-Mahmoud, had ordered the school to close down with effect from July 30.
The SEC notification was based on its Private Schools Supervision Committee�s findings which said the school had not been meeting the technical requirements set by SEC.
It said the school was functioning in violation of legal and administrative requirements stated in the operational licences. �Today�s decision by the judge is a small victory for us,� she said.
After the council issued the fiat, the school, catering to an overwhelming number of Qatari children, decided to take the legal recourse and moved court.
However, on October 13 after a number of hearings, the decision was held but the Administrative Courts in Al Dafna allowed OES to continue operations.
The decision, considered a small victory by the school, paved the way for it to re-open after the summer vacations and enter into the new academic year which for it began on September 19.
�We opened just like other schools in the country and are posting good attendance,� the official said, adding: �There are also requests for new registrations and a waiting list.�
Offering �British curriculum of England and Wales� from pre-school to Grade 6 since October 18, 2009, the school has over 350 students and operates out of a purpose-built building on over 6,000sqm at Al Gharaffa.
The charges, according to her, range from classroom design to number of bathrooms per set of students etc.
In some cases, the school claims to have more facilities than what the law requires.

[paperback]

These places have a bad reputation for the following issues:

frequent firings, high turnover, regular management change, poor salaries, poor accomodation, holidays and bad directors, bad mangement. Some have all of these, some have one or two. You need to read the postings to see what's what. I've met people from all of the ones listed so have heard personal comments.

SEC Consulting Groups: High Turnover and constant policy change
Independent Schools: low pay and shared accomodation, bad operators, long hours
QP & Lang Sols: low pay, poor accomodation; firings
Police Academy: low pay, bad management
Qatar University: management and firing issues: read the complaints!
Academic Bridge Program: management
Choiefat International School: management, salary, housing; parents
Qatar Academy Senior School: management, parental interference
Al Jazeera Academy: salary, housing, parental interference
Gulf English: salary, housing parental interference
American Academy School: salary, housing, parental interference
ELS: everything!
CNAQ - read the complaints!

Nobody ever complains about the military academy despites its poor salary. They must be doing something right.

[paperback]

You can put the police academy at the top of the list. I had an interview there a while ago and it was a joke. I had to do a 'demo' lesson to people who had no idea how to evaluate one. The national woman in charge was rude and did not provide feedback. She didn't seem to know how to relate to people and had very poor communication and organizational skills.

She said she'd be in touch but I never heard from her. She didn't contact me afterwards and unfortunately I had to pester her to see whether I'd got the job. I was jobless at the time but had a few fish left to fry, maybe she knew that I was checking the place out.

She didn't like me evidently. More qualified than she is. I was told she doesn't want people who are better educated as she only has a first degree. The woman couldn't be bothered to answer and hung up when I phoned her. Her English wasn't so hot either. The atmosphere was very heavy with unhappy unsmiling types milling about. They all seemed very jump and nervous when she was around. It was a good thing she didn't want me. Found a better job op after all. I now heard she has a new side-kick who is just as rude. God help those poor teachers. They really seemed terrified. I heard they have big plans to expand but it is clear they need a properly organized director not someone who seems to have been put there by vitamin Wow.

[lollaerd]

[paperback]

The 'cop shop' as someone wrote, is trying to bully people into resigning. They want to bring in more 'native speakers' and get rid of the Arab teachers so they are being hounded and harassed with reports and observations by a person who had no training or experience. A shame as this place was once very promising but then they changed management. Same old story as everywhere else, I guess. Put a nit in power and the nit spreads lice.

[paperback]

Excessive bullying and harassment of teachers at the police colllege. The assistant picks a teacher to pick on. Nobody is happy there. I heard someone recently saying that people were feeling very down because of the constant picking.

[lollaerd]

Since I have now left Qatar I can give you my personal list: I have either had first hand experience of these places or have good friends who have worked in each.

Community College Qatar
Qatar University Foundation Program
Crossroads
Police Academy
ELS
Lang Sols
Al Jazeera Academy
CNAQ

[wilberforce]

[wilberforce]

Qatar University Foundation is the number 1.
Community College - time will tell
Police Academy - forget it!

[battleshipb_b]

[veiledsentiments]

I'd say CCQ is at the top - along with other university branches in University City (that hire few and tend to bring teachers from their home countries.) CNAQ is probably the best for Canadians. QU is below all of these in conditions.

The biggest issue is that the top employers seem to hire only a handful of EFL teachers each year while QU has the largest teacher numbers.

VS
(as to past posts - be aware that there are 1 or 2 persons posting under about 10 different screen names concerning QU. Obvious from posting style and repetitive "issues." Sock Puppets galore. )

[Redcar24]

mmmm Try New Horizons computer training center/Expressions learning center now that is bad....