Job Discussion Forums

[brianr]

I have worked at Dream International School in 6 October/Giza. If you want information regarding the school/working conditions, etc. Let me know. Suffice to say, it was NOT a good experience at all.

[veiledsentiments]

This school hasn't been mentioned here before. Why not give us a general description of the situation. No need to name names and give details that will identify you.

How did you get the job? What is the pay package like? Housing? Any other benefits? Do they provide a legitmate work visa? Class sizes? Work hours and extra work required? Other foreign teachers?

Lots of places out there that have few expat teachers so we don't get reports on them here. Thanks

VS

[brianr]

I got the job quite by accident. I attended TEFL International. Through their "job assistance" I was given a print out of schools in Cairo (taken from Egypt Yellow Pages website).

My classmate and I decided to look for work together. It was the beginning of September and schools were about to start. So getting the job was easy. We were American and British. We spoke English. Enough qualifications there.

The pay was 3000LE/month. The contract was in Arabic. We were not given a legitimate work visa. They wanted to keep our passports for "safe keeping!"

The first payday I received 2000LE, they kept 1000 for "taxes" yet I was illegal. Also, if you miss a day of work (say you are sick), you are docked two days' pay. If it happens on a Sunday or Thursday you are docked three days' pay!

Depending on what the school is trying to squeeze from you, the month is either figured on the actual number of days in the month or the number of working days. Either way, I was screwed every payday.

After a month, the school put us in housing in Dreamland, a gated compound in 6 October, where the school is located. The rent was 1500LE and they took 250LE from each of us. We were told we would receive our deposit back from the first landlord.

The school itself is a study in dysfunction. It is organized from the top down to serve the owner, Mrs. Eva.

Now Mrs. Eva owns and runs an "American" school, yet she speaks no English. There were two Americans teaching (myself and another) and one Brit (my flatmate). My mate took off after Ramadan and we Americans left at the end of December.

The class sizes ranged from 8 to 18. The younger kids were for the most part well behaved. The older kids (grades 9-12) were just awful. They are out of control. No respect. They don't do homework, skip class, talk back. Some didn't even speak English!

That doesn't stop them from taking good grades. The report cards are falsified. So are attendance records and exams. Some classes did not even have textbooks.

They never replaced my mate's position, so the entire 12th grade has no English teacher.

There is so much more I could share. The place is just sleazy and slimy. It has left such a bad taste. I hope this isn't representative of the "American" schools in Egypt.

[veiledsentiments]

All too common story I fear with so many of these new supposed language based schools in the Middle East. There is no control over what name they give to the school in order to attract students, and tuition paying butts on seats is all that it is about.

They usually pick up young native speakers passing through the country who don't know any better. Chalk it up to a learning experience and fodder for a chapter or two in your autobiography.

Better luck next time...

VS

[stoth1972]

I think that there are so many bad opportunities for non-qualified teachers in Egypt (and the ME in general). Even the qualified teachers need to carefullly consider future employers . The reality, sadly, is that a TESOL cert will get you a job in many countries, but it just won't guarantee you a good job. I've been in Brian's shoes (working w/ the cert and no experience). If you told this same story, and replaced "Egypt" with "Spain" or "Korea" it would be equally believeable. I don't mean to talk down the certificate-it's what gave me the teaching/travel bug, but I'm sad to say, that despite the practicality of that certificate, most employers are not overly impressed with it when it stands alone. Add a diploma or an MA and you're in a better situation. If you're serious about a career in ELT, then I'd go back and get the higher qualifications, or find somewhere you'd love to live for a short time, and endure the crap from the employers. If you're thinking you'd prefer international schools, then get that teaching qualification. If ELT is only a temporary career, then it's either low-paying jobs and/or poor treatment that comes w/ that package.

[SOBELLE]

An update on the Dream school, it was shut down just a few weeks ago. Three other schools were closed as well. It's about time to put an end to these so called International Language Schools that are mushrooming everywhere, money making businesses no more no less. Unfortunately the victims in this case are the students.