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scot47
Joined: 10 Jan 2003
Posts: 15343
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 Posted: Sat May 09, 2015 9:58 am Post subject: |
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| Respect for the aged - it is real in KSA ! None of this "Yoof Kulchur" nonsense that permeates the decadent West ! |
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hash
Joined: 17 Dec 2014
Posts: 456
Location: Wadi Jinn
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| Posted: Sat May 09, 2015 11:05 am Post subject: |
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| scot47 wrote: |
| Respect for the aged - it is real in KSA ! None of this "Yoof Kulchur" nonsense that permeates the decadent West ! |
Here I have to disagree somewhat with scot47. There is definitely "respect for the aged" in KSA (although, of course, nothing like what exists in the Far East where not only the aged but the cold and stiff are actually v e n e r a t e d, something that never happens in the Middle East).
No - the reason someone over 60 can get a job in KSA is not because of "respect for age" but because very few under age 50, certainly under 40, are applying for jobs. The word is out - KSA and the Gulf in general are pretty much academic graveyards and cemeteries in more than one sense of the word, especially for any serious-minded career individual.
For those career educators in fields outside ESL, the Gulf has long been known as the "kiss of death" in any academic career trajectory. If you're retired, ok, you're safe. But if you're a 35 year old Assistant Professor of physics with aspirations towards TENURE at some western uni, are you really going to jeopardize all that for a couple of years in the Gulf? Pay the guy guaranteed $250,000/annum, you'll get him. Anything less, you're dreaming.
I've said it before and I'll say it again.....you can ALWAYS find an "English teacher" to fill a job vacancy. Just send me to Bangkok for 10 days and I'll have a minimum of 25 candidates, all with their "TESL certificates" lined up ready to journey to the Magic Kingdom. How long they'll last, that I can't vouch for or what diseases or anti-social behaviour they'll bring with them, that I can't say. But you'll get your vacancy filled.
But you want a serious employee that leans towards the normal, with all the right credentials and experience that's going to last at least 5 years on the job, you got to get serious about hiring. Going the "recruiter" way isn't going to cut it. Not in a million years.
In the end, you get what you pay for. In my opinion, the salaries being currently offered for your average ESL teacher in the Gulf in general reflect the "unseriousness" with which employers regard their English programs and their English teachers. As I've said before, most ESL programs in the Gulf are not serious....they're there simply because of government edicts requiring them to exist. They don't know what to do with their under 25 year olds so the word is out: "Put them in an English class !! Somewhere. A-N-Y-W-H-E-R-E !! ". Doesn't matter to what end or where, or the quality of the program or teachers or if they qualify....just get 'em in a room somewhere in a building with the word EXCELLENCE emblazoned on the massive entrance where they'll be entertained for 2 or 3 years by clownish, pandering "western" charlatans.
You can see this with ARAMCO. At one time, when the English program was serious, ALL ESL teachers were direct hires with all the benefits. No longer...it's all contractors and recruiters now. However, they still hire REAL teachers......K-12 I mean, directly through their Houston office (Aramco Services Company). They're really serious about that kind of teaching. And salaries and benefits are commensurate with their seriousness about that program. (Social Security, Medicare, unemployment insurance, life insurance, retirement program, full and accredited education for children, Class AAA medical insurance, the list is almost endless).
ESL teachers? they say. Don't make us laugh.
(How much my comments are applicable to female ESL teachers, I can't say. Probably not much). |
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rbc
Joined: 24 Jun 2009
Posts: 14
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| Posted: Mon May 18, 2015 11:40 am Post subject: Been awhile since I checked this thread . . . |
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But here goes:
myohmy wrote:
If anyone has knowledge of an ordinary PYP teacher who has received their first iqama, either through direct hire or with a contractor, after they reached the ripe old age, please do share.
That would be rbc, who had posted that she returned in 2014 via EdEx, after being out of KSA for a year (http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewtopic.php?p=1161592). Hopefully, she'll return to this thread to comment.
Hi. I was first hired when I was 61, but back then KSA was letting teachers in on renewable visit visas. That said, there was a handful of plus 60s, including a couple past 65 who are still here. We are all on iqamas.
Hope that helps. |
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DesertDuck
Joined: 19 Jan 2011
Posts: 24
Location: Never near a body of water
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| Posted: Fri Jun 12, 2015 6:41 pm Post subject: |
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| myohmy wrote: |
| If anyone has knowledge of an ordinary PYP teacher who has received their first iqama, either through direct hire or with a contractor, after they reached the ripe old age, please do share. |
I personally know a PYP teacher over the age of 65 who received his first iqama (never employed in the Kingdom before) through direct hire at a private university in Riyadh. He was hired in 2010 and is still employed with the same university. |
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