Job Discussion Forums

[Zoot]

lynnknows - you've come the closest I've seen to postings other than mine in expressing the actual truth. Just one thing - yes, Fred had cancer and he left and he was able to organize the best for his staff, the Principal Advisors, before he did so unlike Larry and his offsider who were never able to get it right! You've forgotten about all the resignations handed in by the people who could see the wrongs being done from the beginning. Nice to know you believe you are making a difference, just the same. Will it go on? Can people expect job certainty and security if they travel to the mid-east to take up a position with Al Ghad. I think not and therein lies the problem.

[veiledsentiments]

Anyone who takes a new job with a new education project in any country anywhere in the world better not be expecting organization, efficiency, or job security. If these are your main concerns, you probably should stay in the suburbs of your homeland and teach at the neighborhood school.

The new pre-university education projects in the Emirates have been going in fits and starts now for... soon three years?... and so far, disaster reigns.

VS

[lynnknows]

I knew about a few people that got fired but I did not know anyone quit. It is easy to want to quit this program. It needs some regrouping and stonger management.

I know I knew from the begining that this program may not last and took the chance. I know several people that came here from the states and they also said they came for the experience and knew that it may only last one year or less. Many people did plan their life thinking this was a 3 year deal. I guess because I have been here a little while and because I had a few bad experiences I do not take any employment for granted. I also knew that this was a HUGE task that they tried to take on. I also know change is hard. So, I didnt really have my life planned out for the next 3 years. So would I tell a person to take a job with MAG. Yes, but only after telling them it is not a secure job.

[wannago]

lynn...I agree with you on almost everything. I'm in total agreement with Larry needing to go. He concerned me from the beginning. I think Mike has been alright, but it seems like his hands have been tied somewhat. I am also a little proud of what our particular school is doing, but I've heard some horror stories out there. I think some people came here expecting similar conditions to what they had at home and, as you know, the ME is anything but like home. Like you, I didn't hear of anyone quitting but several people being sent home. I guess I feel mostly for those people who uprooted entire families to move here for this and now are staring the loss of their job in the face.

The only thing that perplexes me is that my contract has nothing about a one-year probationary period. This makes me wonder whether there are different contracts floating around out there. Maybe I signed something different in that whirlwind of paperwork in the first few days that I don't have a copy of, but I don't recall it. The copy of the contract I have clearly says nothing about it.

Zoot: You are just a little too negative about this program for my taste. This leads me to believe that either a) you applied initially and were rejected or b) you quit early on for some little reason. You are really angry about something to do with MAG and seem to attack anyone who doesn't feel angry with you. I'm not angry with it. A little disappointed in the management end of things, but this is par for the ME. I'm not trying to protect anyone, but will challenge your BS whenever you throw it out there.

[mishmumkin]

What's MAG stand for?

[wannago]

[carlen]

edit

[lynnknows]

while I love the idea of the program; it has changed in ways I never thought possible. The program is now run by an Emiratie woman and the direction of the program has shifted. It is no longer about changing the system. It is now about making the schools look pretty and doing the least amount of work.

Most of the people in admin positions have either gone or are leaving. Tons of people were let go. MOST not because they were not doing a good job. Some people were let go for personal reasons. It is very sad to see people let go and you know it was not because of their work.

They are looking for new people to fill positions telling them it is for a 3 yr contract and the program will not last that long. This country is not ready for MAG.

They do not have the money they had last yr. The pay is less than last yrs pay and housing is also less.

If you are wanting to go to UAE for a quick year.........then do it.
If you are looking to be here a while..........DONT DO IT

[sowsan]

MAG schools haven't been cancelled, but won't be extended according to this report. Another failed experiment to fix the national education system?

http://www.thenational.ae/article/20080512/NATIONAL/203477751

[veiledsentiments]

It seems to me that this is a good decision by the Ministry. Before you expand a program, get it functioning in the schools where it is being used. So far, there have been huge problems. Extending those problems to all or just more of the school system would be merely expanding the problems.

This idea is a good one to improve the educational system from the bottom. As usual, implementation is going by fits and starts, two steps forward, one step back. It could take another 2-5 years to get it all working... then extend it to the rest of the system.

VS

[wannago]

[sowsan]

MAG schools, model schools, a rose by any other name.

I have a friend who accepted a job with a MAG school in one of the northern emirates as a school mentor. The principal was just not on. After one year of hopelessness, he has asked for a transfer to another MAG school.

The only way to "fix" the schools in the emirates is to fire every single one of the principals and teachers and start offering salaries that will attract and retain high caliber teachers like in the national tertiary institutions. Oh yeah, a big budget for beautifying the environment where the students study like in the tertiary institutions would be nice as well.

[bje]

I completely agree with Sowsan. Were such an injection of funds ever to occur, then and only then would education at the primary and secondary levels stand a chance of 'reform'.

[Zoot]

Well, well, well! Good on ya wannago for having the guts to stand up and say what this program has been like for most of the time since its inception. Your defence of it over such a long period was undeserving. It's not the fault of the Emirati woman now in charge, however, but the fault of those who couldn't manage it from the beginning. All dressed up, but no idea how to go where they wanted to go was the problem from the beginning. If you wanna go out to the UAE and have a bit of fun, do so, but don't expect to keep the job you apply for and are appointed to. Make certain your bank account is well and truly in the black before departing the safety of what you have now. The project is a disaster!

[Never Ceased To Be Amazed]

I understand that in their next attempt at such a program, the ADEA is going to throw even more money and go high-tech all the way with multiple campuses. Apparently, the program will be known as e-Ghads!

NCTBA