Job Discussion Forums

double agent · Posted: Sat Jul 24, 2004 1:25 pm Post subject: info on Kuwait tesl environment

IPETQ..do they hire without a Diploma..i have a tesol and first degree.
and several years experience.

I have read the board but have seen no new information on Kuwait.
What is the working environment like now and the offer is it reasonable 700 kd.

strawberry · Joined: 23 Jun 2004 Posts: 15

I've heard about IPETQ. I guess they're an okay company. 700 kd is about the average salary for language institutes in Kuwait. I have friends at both IPETQ and Humansoft (another language center in Kuwait). IPETQ hires by contract. Their employees work at company based training sites. The only problem is that you might have to take leave without pay if they don't have any new contracts for you. Humansoft allows you to work in their language centers when the contract finishes. But I heard that HumanSoft doesn't treat their employees very well (that's what my friends say). And with the political situation in Iraq these days, I think most companies will take who they can get. I wouldn't worry so much about qualifications. (At least not in the Middle East).

veiledsentiments · Joined: 20 Feb 2003 Posts: 17644 Location: USA

I must say that I find this a very odd statement:

"I think most companies will take who they can get. I wouldn't worry so much about qualifications. (At least not in the Middle East)." (Strawberry)

Without qualifications in the Middle East, you end up with the jobs at the bottom of the pay, benefits and working conditions - like ITEPQ and Humansoft and other even sleazier organizations. Or you can go to the places that are desperate for staff like Saudi with its current attendant risks.

I would say that qualifications are crucial in much of the Middle East with and MA often the minimum.

Double Agent:

I'm not sure what you mean by not having a 'diploma' - I had assumed that 'first degree' means a BA? --- 700 KD is about usual for language schools - but if you don't also get housing and tickets and such on top of that, you won't have much left over for entertainment, such as it is.

VS

double agent · Posted: Mon Jul 26, 2004 10:16 pm Post subject: Ment..

ment TEFL Diploma... I have a TEFL certificate, and a BA.

I should have been clear. I keep reading the words you need a Diploma,
not just a degree on this board. So I imagined that to mean the TEFL Diploma.

Thanks for the information. I`ll keep looking.

veiledsentiments · Joined: 20 Feb 2003 Posts: 17644 Location: USA

Double Agent,

To be honest, I don't know what the difference is between a diploma and a certificate. I thought that they were the same thing - they seem to be used interchangeably on this board.

My confusion may be due to the fact that in the US we don't much use either term.

VS

strawberry · Joined: 23 Jun 2004 Posts: 15

it seems to me that somebody in this forum is taking himself a little too seriously.

double agent · Posted: Fri Jul 30, 2004 7:59 pm Post subject: being clear

dear Strawberry

i am not sure whom u mean. but i thought we were all being polite.
guess i was wrong.

strawberry · Joined: 23 Jun 2004 Posts: 15

dear double agent,

i WAS being polite. if i was being anything other than polite, i would have said something else in my previous posting. i respect everybody in this forum. but my comment about qualifications was criticized. i responded to that comment, but it wasn't directed towards you. good luck with your search.

Cleopatra · Posted: Sat Jul 31, 2004 6:36 pm Post subject:

Hi VS!

The way I've always heard the terms being used, a "TEFL Cert." is the basic teaching qualification which can be obtained in 1 month full-time, 3 months part-time. The "TEFL Diploma", on the other hand, is a higher qualification, for which you need at least one years' post Cert. experience. Depending on whether you do it by DL or not, it takes up to one year, and there are both theory and practical exams. Apparantly, there is a 50% failure rate!

double agent · Posted: Sat Jul 31, 2004 7:07 pm Post subject: strawberry

I guess i thought you were insulting one of us. Embarassed

Must have been one of those online misunderstandings.

thanks Cleo for clarifying the Diploma Certificate case.

And no I don`t have a tesl diploma but i don`t believe
i am less the teacher for it. As I am one who is constantly
looking for new approaches, materials, techniques, and feel
that the MARKET for these Diplomas is over rated and has
too much to do with marketing.

From the seminars I have taken by teachers who are in training for
it they were barely passable in the Certificate level in my eyes.

I went through a grueling course, and stand by my HONOURS stamp on it.

Unfortunately the same can be said for a MA in Tesol, lots of theroy but tell me what student benifits from it. It is part of the Academia money making machine.

I feel frustrated by the UAE requirements as I have met some of the people who have taught there and they are not so great.

I am sure there are many of you out there who have worked incredibly hard to obtain the Diploma, but HOW MUCH have you really changed your teaching habits. Either you are a person who is constantly learning new
things or your not.