Job Discussion Forums

[Tazmin]

Maybe the posts were pulled because they were getting too personal (and boring. Conspiracy theories - give me a break!).

Here's a question - many people on this forum are now very loudly complaining about CfBt and the MoHE for the fact that some colleagues did not have their contracts renewed (not an automatic right in any job in any country by the way). So, have you all resigned in protest at the treatment your colleagues received, in support of your colleagues and because of your very public dislike of your employers, or are you all continuing to accept salary from your employers?

Just wondering.

[denise]

[eha]

'So, have you all resigned in protest at the treatment your colleagues received, in support of your colleagues and because of your very public dislike of your employers, or are you all continuing to accept salary from your employers? [i]

Well, most of us are well past the age when we can afford such nobility-- however, some people will always have the courage to stay in situ, and speak up against injustice, on the spot, through whatever avenues are allowed to us.
Congrats, Denise; was it in support, or have you just had enough?

[johnslat]

Dear Denise,
I admire and respect your integrity and I wish you all the best. You deserve it.
Regards,
John

[Duffy]

Denise,

[denise]

Thanks, johnslat!

Eha--I had actually made up my mind to leave back in December, after a certain incident here. The events of recent months just reinforced my decision.

d

[eha]

There are many such incidents; unfortunately, we're not all as young and footloose as we once were!
Best wishes, and I hope your next assignment will be enjoyable and professionally developmental (rather than just 'mental'. Sorry, bad joke)

GOOD LUCK.

[paperclip]

Tazmin�s vituperative intervention throws up typical distractions that constantly need to be cleared away. Have there been resignations? Actually, yes, many. But even if there were resignations en bloc would this be satisfactory. I doubt it. �Loudly complaining� in a �very public� way? Really? Is this a �very public� forum? I think not. Isn�t it a (useful) chat-room for people in the biz. �Conspiracy theories � give me a break�. I just can�t follow this gratuitous aside. Who has suggested conspiracies? Only this correspondent. �Collective action?� Is this person suggesting or scoffing at a unionized response � it�s not clear. As for �non renewals � yes this is contractual procedure but it isn�t the whole story. Far from it. In this experience � procedures have NOT been followed as The Very Long Entry points out in detail. There is a bullying power relationship at work in Nizwa and the bullied feel entitled to ask a few questions. The Recruiter, the external University, the Dean, the HoD never respond. Others seems numbed, just waiting for the end of this academic year when there�ll be a breathing space before a new intake of victims. This forum is just about the only place where this demeaning experience (not imagined conspiracies) can be resisted. Jabbing at teachers who speak out is easy � looking at the cause is a lot more difficult. Accepting the salary does not mean shutting up and taking abuse. For Tazmin to claim �just wondering� at the end of a provocative message is disingenuous.

[whereamiagain]

Tazmin if you cant be bothered reading THE VERY LONG POST why blunder into a discussion you have no understanding of ? You dont work here. You have no idea what it has been like.

Perhaps you should go back and read your post of August 2007 where you say:

"The problem is that many people who have never even experienced certain things feel obliged to give an opinion and act as an authority."

As Paperclip points out nobody has mentioned anything close to a conspiracy theory. There may be daggers here but no cloaks.

These boards are here to keep people informed about the changing fortunes of institutions that they may be considering working for. I came to Nizwa College of Applied Sciences based on very positive posts about the college. The situation has changed dramatically. People HAVE decided to leave, some in protest, some in disgust, some because they were given no choice. Those that are staying on are doing so for many and varied reasons. Our decision to do so does not nullify our very just complaints. I am staying on because I have many mouths to feed and an advancing age. Or maybe this gritty realism is a tad boring for you?

Here is some fiction you might appreciate:

I think it's in Washington Square that Henry James writes:

"She entered the room laughing but somehow made the room more empty"

[sanjo101]

I just finished up in South Korea and would like to know if the employers in Oman, at the area in question and elsewhere, are as treacherous/corrupt. Not that I mind this at all. If the Omanis break the law like the Koreans do, then there should be many opportunities for extortion and blackmail....

I imagine many of you are above this...but I'm not. This is how I got the pension I was legally entitled to.

Also...what's the climate like with privates? There's certainly oil money there.

Average $$$/hour?
Most lucrative time of day?
Typical students?

[veiledsentiments]

Oman is nothing like Korea in any way... you won't be eligible for any pension by law no matter how long you are there... few privates available... if you try extortion or blackmail, you must hope for immediate deportation as the jails are not pleasant, and they will gladly put you there if you want to play legal games.

...and

Oman has very little oil by Gulf terms...

VS

[stabnkill]

The average going rate for private lessons given by native speakers, as far as I know, is around 10 rials an hour. However, there are several things to keep in mind. First, there is not a really big market for private lessons. It is possible to find work (esp. tutoring kids) but the work isn't plentiful. Second, giving private lessons is against the terms of your employment contract if your visa is sponsored by your employer. If your employer finds out that you are giving private lessons, it is within your employer's right to fire you, without notice and without gratuity. Third, if you are working outside Muscat, there are very few secrets. Chances are that if you found a job tutoring some rich guy�s kids, that rich guy knows all the other rich guys in town. While you may be able to give private lessons on the sly in Muscat, it gets much more difficult to do anything on the sly outside Muscat.

About blackmail: I understand what you are saying: If your employer cheats you out of something that you are legally owed, chances are your employer is also doing a lot of other illegal things, and the threat to expose your employer�s myriad of illegal deeds may persuade your employer to give you what is legally owed to you. However, in Oman there are two main problems with this approach:

1. If you are sponsored by a recruiter, you will not be able to gather enough information, as you will interact with your recruiter far less than you will interact with the college you work for. If you are sponsored by a recruiter, that recruiter is fully responsible for you. Any complaints to the college will be pointless because as far as the college is concerned, you are not their responsibility unless they are your sponsor. It should be noted that a recruiter will not care if you threaten to quit because they will just make another commission bringing another person over. Nor will your recruiter care about your college's misdeeds.

2. If you are working directly for your college (if your college is listed on your visa as your sponsor), you may be in a position to gather damaging information. However, Omani employers do not take kindly to being blackmailed. If you try to blackmail them, they will likely just make up lies about you (student complaints, immoral conduct, student complaints, bad teaching, student complaints) and fire you. In a case where you actually have the documentation of your employer�s misdeeds, you must be willing to go to either the court (for a labor dispute) or the Ministry of Higher Education (for complaints of academic misdeeds). Going to court is expensive and unless your employer has done something seriously wrong, which is rare, you will likely spend more on lawyer fees than you will get in monies owed. Going to the Ministry of Higher Education could generate into a wassta (social agency/clout) conflict, and as a foreigner, you have no wassta. If you go to MoHE with proof that the students� grades are changed in order to pass them, what will MoHE do when it is common knowledge that grade changing happens in almost every college in Muscat, esp. the private ones? In the a case where the MoHE is willing to listen to you and sees validity in your claims, it is unlikely that you will gain anything except a headache and some marginal satisfaction. If you have journalistic connections, it may work to threaten exposure to the media, except the Oman media won�t print anything critical to Oman, and the foreign media doesn�t really care. Also, you�d just get fired because most contracts have a clause forbidding you from talking to the media.

I hate to paint such a dismal picture, but really the best way to go is to pretend you are in the fish suq and try to verbally negotiate, as demeaning as that is�or work at SQU, or go to a country that has higher standards in their higher education. In the end of the day you will find that most of the people who stay in Oman working at the these sub-par colleges only do so because they want relatively easy jobs and can tune out the rest. The fact that colleges are hiring teachers with only a BA in any Hum. subject and two years of teaching experiences, often with no interview, should tell you something.

[windstar]

Well-written.

[eha]

'they will likely just make up lies about you (student complaints, immoral conduct, student complaints, bad teaching, student complaints) and fire you'.

You forgot 'complaints from students'.

[eha]

Oh, and 'bad student evaluations' from those students who objected to being educated, as opposed to being spoon-fed.