Job Discussion Forums

[A_Canadian_Teacher]

I see AMIDEAST is recruiting for King Faisal School and the UPP. Are these programs worth applying for? Any information greatly appreciated.

[trapezius]

yes they are definitely worth applying for.

the pay is one of the best out there (in SA), and at least as far as the UPP goes, my educated guess is that it will be quite a professional place to work in, probably a lot more than a lot of established universities, let alone new ones that just opened a year or two ago.

the competition is tough for the UPP jobs.

[Stephen Jones]

The problem with King Faisal School is the hours on site (something like 11 hours a day plus Thursday mornings). There are other threads so you could do a search.

Check out the pay.

The UPP program appears to be new. In general you will do best to avoid the new in the Gulf as it normally comes terribly unstuck. On the other hand it is based on the UAB program which has been going since 2002 and has had Saudi students.

Much will depend on the quality of the students, and this will depend on the career prospects and whether they pay, or whether the course is free, or even better they get a stipend.

Throughout the Gulf there is this idiotic belief that all tertiary courses should be given in English. The result is often a collection of unmotivated students doing courses that are too difficult for them.

[trapezius]

Are you saying if you are a KFS teacher, you are there from 7 am to 6 pm? DAMN.

What's UAB?

As for the UPP, it is far from free; SR. 54,000 per year, and they will only take students with certain minimum requirements in terms of HS GPA and TOEFL score.

That's why I said I expect it to be a much better place than others. And the recruitment is being done by AMIDEAST in Washington DC.

I applied, but didn't get the job, even though the 2 lady interviewers really liked me (35 minute phone-interview from US). They even said higher management would want to do a live video-conferencing interview with me. But after 10 days, they sent an email saying the competition was tough, and they had received some good applications after my interview. So, tough luck.

(The interview went so well that I thought I had pretty much got the job, save for an official notification)

The benefits sound amazing.

[Stephen Jones]

Sorry, AUB, American University of Beiruit.

I believe King Faisal school does have horrendous hours; check up though, as things may have changed.

If you have a Masters in TEFL why not apply to KFUPM. Salaries are reasonable for those with a TEFL Masters and oodles of experience, though not so good for us lesser mortals.

[trapezius]

For those who are interested:

Looks AMAZING!
http://www.kff.com/english/kff/ea/EAAUContract.html

Official website:
http://alfaisal.edu/

Nice Arab News article:
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1&section=0&article=96281

Some interesting bits from the article:

[Never Ceased To Be Amazed]

In 1994, I was scarred by the KFS experience. Never before had I confronted students who had such a quality of meanness, fathers who had such a sense of remoteness to their offspring, or mothers who would screech and humiliate the teachers who would be lined up in from of the camera on mothers' day! Truly, an experience to remember!

They tried to sugar coat it with the fact that we taught so many princes. The 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. with all but one monthly Thursday morning off got old quick. The main reason for keeping them in study hall from 2 to 6 was that the princesses needed the time to sleep in after a long night out with the girls. Essentially, we were underpaid babysitters!

The students did their utmost to see which teachers they could get on a 24 hour exit visa. None in my group got it, but the effort was there.

I still remember the teacher who was terrified to tears after some of the students shut him into the closet and locked it behind him...leaving him there for two hours while they went out for their physical training period.

I remember the mutawa would storm into classes after observing the way we wrote our 't's"...I STILL habitually put a tail on the end.

I remember watching, with mixed emotions of sadness and humour, as I watched professionals climbing over the back wall of the school to get out and do SOMETHING with the day as we usually had only two or three contact periods during our 12 hour shifts. Shifts that had us officially confined to the school property.

For those of you who doubt my words, ALL of this is horribly true! I sure hope that that school has changed! Even for the terrible students and the low, low pay, the glimmering truth is that it DID get me a foothold in the Gulf, which led to much better jobs and better employers.

NCTBA

[veiledsentiments]

I'm confused... is this thread about King Faisal School? or some new university set to open this fall? Or both? Are the two of them somehow related?

Assuming that this is a new start-up university with AMIDEAST doing the interviewing... at least they have a good track record of finding and hiring good people. But one certainly shouldn't take a job based on their website propaganda.

VS

[Stephen Jones]

[veiledsentiments]

I did read it and was still confused... but thanks for answering it for me. Are these the only two schools under this foundation?

VS

[trapezius]

King Faisal School is a K-12 school. It has been in existence for a decade at least.

UPP is the name of the 1-yr prep program at Al Faisal University. UPP wil start in 2007, and the university will therefore start its first year in 2008.

[Van Norden]

[Kepler]

I have worked for the King Faisal School for a few years now, and the team there is really helpful and supportive to western teachers. Next year we work an 8 1/2 hour day, five days a week and are starting the IB programme from Grade 1 - 10. During the working day you can go for a dip in the pool, use the weights room, run on the track etc. as fitness is encouraged. The salary is relatively high (35k-40k), there is Diplomatic Quarter housing, wireless broadband, wonderful facilities and most of the kids are great. All these horror stories I read must have been from long, long ago. If you want to work with Saudi kids, King Faisal is the best school to go to.

[Stephen Jones]

[Kepler]

The IB runs from PYP (G1-5), MYP (G6-10) and the DP (11 and 12)...you must be thinking of the Diploma Programme only. No lack of coordination...