Job Discussion Forums

[spudulike]

I worked as a teacher at the Military Technological College in Muscat for the first three years. I’ll outline here what happened.

Let’s begin at the beginning. The RAFO was all set to run the place. Professional, well organized and experienced, they were replaced at the last moment by family and friends of Ministry workers in Muscat who became aware of the budget. It sure was a big budget. Tons of money was involved in the Sultan’s last prize project, an all arms military academy par excellence. But the Sultan got sick. Things went the way of the ill fated Blue City. Don’t Google Blue City, it’s a secret. Deals were made, cash was transferred, friends of the friends benefited. Fingers were in the till. An Irish Dean and Irish, English Dept. HOD were brought in. An Australian agency, disastrously, was hired to manage the teachers. Navitas, legally barred from operating in Canada and many US states, “the bottom feeders of the education industry.” Not a great start.

Recruitment consisted of a quick chat about soccer. Arriving in Oman, we were driven to a semi complete site of unfinished buildings on a wasteland, kilometers from the nearest shop, and left there for a month, with no contact, support, cash or food. This didn’t bode well for the future.

The Omani Administration had little idea what was going on. Many part time taxi drivers amongst them, English language was not their forte. The senior Omani Administration locked themselves away forever. The Head of Personnel refused to speak to the Personnel, for all 3 years I was there. That means nobody. He spoke to nobody. The Omani Administration see the teachers through a goldfish bowl. Everything distorted, they rely on misleading info fed back to them by unscrupulous and untalented managers.

Did I say untalented managers? Oh yes, Navitas. Well, it’s not enough to bluff your way in education. Pretending to have qualifications and experience isn’t the same as actually having them, a fact that was immediately apparent. Having being brought in to manage the teachers, and having not the slightest clue what to do, they set about micro managing every aspect of the teachers lives and behavior. They brought in equally unqualified friends from Australia on a junket, and those friends could do no wrong. Giants of education management, for three years they made a hash of everything, before finally, thankfully losing their contract and crawling back under a rock in the outback.

The whole thing played out like a prolonged Stanford Experiment https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWmAZpQQU64 but not curtailed after 2 weeks, rather an all out 3 years of vicious corporate bullying. One guy attempted suicide. At least three marriages ended, with small children part of each marriage. Navitas smirked and snickered through the whole thing.

The Irish Dean and HOD also brought in friends and relatives to join the gravy train. No Irishman in the English Dept. ever had a hard time. Everything was rosy for them. When the first, Irish, HOD resigned he was replaced by a female, Irish, probable relative of the Dean. It transpired she had no qualifications in teaching, no experience, no qualifications in management, and was now HOD of 65 teachers in Oman’s premier “University” (University status achieved through a dodgy cash deal with Portsmouth University in the UK). Things didn’t go well. It was, in brief, a complete disaster. However, she was transferred to job after job and lingers on today, no doubt serving in the coffee bar.

During the three years enormous changes to the original contracts (work 9am to 5pm haha) were made. “This is not a democracy” said the first HOD. “The MOD can do what they want. They are the law.” Vacations changed dramatically. My first summer vacation was 8 weeks long. Now, 10 days plus weekends. But the weekends are travelling time anyway. The inter-semester breaks are now 5 days plus weekends, but were originally 2 weeks long. The effect is that you can’t really recover from the long semesters.

The 3 month probation period may in some cases (completely breaking the contract) be extended to 9 months. Under Omani labour law they can’t do that…but they do. If you find that happening to you it’s a sign that you will be disposed of, one way or another.

Who escaped persecution? The Irish, under care of the Dean. The Australians and New Zealanders, under care of Navitas. Any woman, under the delighted attention of the hot under the collar Omanis. Those prepared to be flattering sycophants, adopting drawling Eton accents and describing themselves on introduction as “upper- middle class”. The self-invented intelligentsia. But transparently self-invented. Finally, bitter Western converts to Islam.

Each level of the too many leveled management structure set about manipulating the teachers to the best of their ability, from the in your face shrieking of Navitas enforcers to the final stage, being ushered into the presence of the Dean, a consoling figure with a hand on your shoulder, who would urge you to confide in him; then use the information to have you shot.

The two final Award Ceremonies were absurd MTC Spectaculars the like of which the most imaginative Hollywood minds could never hope to dream up. The first was for the Administrative staff to award prizes for hard work to anyone employed at MTC. After thinking long and hard they decided that the most deserving people were…themselves. Attendance at the after working hours ceremony was compulsory. Emails reading “Confirm your attendance now…” were sent repeatedly with high priority. Come the night almost none of the English teachers turned up. The Omani Administrative staff, dressed up to the nines, queued up to get on stage and present each other with golden boxes containing the latest ipads. There was one exception. The Omanis chose the female teacher they found closest to their idea of Arabic beauty, dressed her up in a bizarre Desert Queen costume, complete with jewels above her face, and awarded her an ipad for being “Teacher of the Year.” Our only role was to bounce up and down in our seats and clap like trained chimps at the appropriate moment, which I must say I did with great elan.

Exactly the same office staff had organized an MTC photography competition. Somehow they themselves won all the prizes, a talented group if ever there was one.

A little later Navitas organized their own awards ceremony, which proceeded, predictably, in the same way, as Navitas awarded themselves and their favourites prizes, sulkily snubbing anyone who crossed them.

As things stand now MTC continues to bring in groups of new teachers, each group being told that they are superior to previous staff. Each group like lambs to the slaughter, never believing for a minute that anything bad might just happen to them. But of course, they don’t realize that they’re already in the slaughterhouse.

Any questions? Fire away on the public forum. I won’t answer pm’s so save your breath.

Well, I did warn you. Here's my first pm:

What you have written is really unfair and desperately untrue. How do you think your colleagues (ex) will feel once the see the ways in which you have referred to them?

To which I can answer: They helped me to write it. Not one or two of them, but many.

[Whatever will be]

Nepotism and "wasta" (corruption) with the resulting incompetence and mismanagement is rampant in the ME, Oman is no exception.

A teaching position generally means jostling for favours (a decent timetable, bearable office space, extra annual leave) with the "higher-ups"; hanging around in class to chew through a nonsensical book, filling out copious quality assurance exercises combined with a bit of seat warming for the rest of the time.

The loads of money in the past used to compensate for a lot of the hardship caused by remote postings, the utter futility of the daily grind and the overall soul crushing experience of living in a highly backward and religiously strict society.

W

[Tazz]

It was the utter futility that really did it for me in the end.....a vile pseudo academic production line of non achievement....just meaningless 'pass to the next level' of foundation study. Each time becoming more difficult for the instructors because despite the fact that they had 'passed' the students hadn't a clue what was going on.

[On2TheNext1]

[LarssonCrew]

Did it at least allow you to put some money in the bank in those three years.

[1st Sgt Welsh]

[Whatever will be]

I heard about a year ago that the salary was 1900 Rial for a Bachelor Degree, 2400 Rial,for a Masters and even more for a PhD. Accommodation provided on campus. Also, only native speakers, preferably Irish or Australian were employed. About a year or so ago, a new (Lebanese or Jordanian?- not sure) male Head of Department took over and a British female Assistant Head followed. Apparently, the new leadership implemented some changes (less holidays, longer teaching hours, individual student pre-selection/assessment interviews to be conducted by teachers....) and did not renew contracts for some staff prior to the summer break. These teachers are unable to continue in the new academic year while others are distressed and uncertain about their future.
However, this is all just hearsay. [/i]

[Whatever will be]

One teacher (who subsequently left) made a comment to me in a personal conversation over a beverage that the "...the load of money is not worth the load of bullsh@t."

The person resigned and has a job now that pays heaps less but with much more satisfaction.

I guess it's the old equation of "gain vs pain".

[danshengou]

[spudulike]

The salary package is 1900 Omani Rial. The salary is 1300 Omani Rial.

Expenses are a rental car ( you really do need one) at around 200 O.R. a month and accommodation, at around 300 O.R. a month for a small flat.

Studio flats at MTC cost 250 O.R. a month now. They are boxes, and closely monitored. You cannot, for example, hang your washing to dry on the balcony, as this is un-Islamic. Several teachers noticed that their flats at work were accessed and sums of money went missing during working hours. All evidence points to the Omani's own security people. Who do you complain to?

Other expenses - food, entertainment, clothes, petrol (doubled in cost in the last 6 months). If you rent a flat outside the campus you need to furnish it, buy a fridge, a washing machine, a six-slice pop up toaster and all the other basics of survival. By the time you finish doing that your contract will be over and you'll sell everything at a 75% loss. Haha.

People lose money 1. buying cars...tempting but as I said you won't be there that long...2. furnishing flats ....3. just living the dream Rihanna style, but on the salary of an ESl teacher. You can spend 200 rial a month that's 500 USD, on coffee, no problem.

The contract states that you have full MOD medical insurance. The reality is that full medical treatment is reserved for Omanis only and teachers cannot access the medical services. If you complain, you will be dismissed. We were sent an email though, strongly suggesting that we buy private medical insurance. To see a GP in Oman in a private clinic costs around 5 O.R. An x ray costs 30 O.R. A minor operation around 300 O.R.

Just don't get run over by the new buses...

MTC only pay for two out of 3 flights a year. Several out of favour teachers arrived at airports to find their return flights mysteriously cancelled.
Remind me to chose an employer who can actually afford to pay for my flights next time.

[danshengou]

[Whatever will be]

Well, I agree with the 2400 Rial per month, 8-10 weeks paid annual leave spread over the year, annual flights, full medical coverage, etc. deal.

Otherwise, there are still some (very) good offers available in the rest of the Muddled East.

Looks like the Military College has become an entry job for those with minimum qualifications and no or very little experience (at least as long as the management insists on native speakers).

[veiledsentiments]

In the area of 'some issues are relative.'

[Whatever will be]

Al Nawa doesn't pay for annual flights at all.
Also, medical expenses such as doctor visits and medicines have to be covered (e.g. visits to the dentist, a kidney operation, a sty...)
They say that they reimburse costs but they never do.
Honesty and fairness is not a quality encountered in the recruitment agencies or employers of the ME.

[spudulike]

The number of flights hasn't changed. There are 3 main vacations a year. You get two paid return flights to the country you originally traveled from. One flight you pay for yourself.

The vacations originally coincided with Christian holidays, that is Christmas, Easter and also the long summer vacation. First the vacations were moved...to ensure that they did not match Christian holidays. Then they were shortened, and shortened....

The HOD responsible once said in a staff meeting that the teachers had given consent for the theft of Christmas. There actually was no such meeting or consent. Who stole Christmas anyway?