Job Discussion Forums

[1400 Years]

Any thoughts about the University College of Bahrain, anyone?

Checked their website but it doesn't leave the best impression of it!

What would the salary be in a Bahraini university of an Academic English / TEFL lecturer with a UK Masters in ELT and two years UK university teaching experience?

Thanks.

[1400 Years]

Looks like it is too obscure a university for anyone to make a comment on.

[veiledsentiments]

We are not really ignoring you. It is just that I can't recall the last time we had a poster here who had experience of the place. (and I have been here since '96) Nor have I ever seen an advertisement for teachers. (not that I have ever searched)

A friend of mine taught there in the late '80s, but I don't think any information of her experience back then would be of much value to you.

Sorry... but my advice is that you probably want to expand a job search to the other Gulf countries.

VS

[1400 Years]

Thank you for your post, VS.

Well, I had randomly sent an email to them in early 2008, and a few weeks ago I got this call from them asking whether I was still interested and available for work in September.

I wrote and said that would be a good idea.

They were keeping the job applicants posted about the progress of the Great Processing thus far, and had also said that they would return to us 'in two weeks'. I'm not surprised about the way things are going - hey, it's the Middle East! - but in order to know where I might be headed, I have trawled the internet for information about the university. Alas! to little avail. Even their website is so 'unprofessional'; and seems to have been last looked at by them in 2005. In short, it's a pathetic website for a university of any standing, I must say.

But being a non-native speaker and teacher of English, getting an equal opportunity anywhere in the world other than in my own is not an everyday thing. However, despite the stigma of not bearing a maroon passport, a white skin and other caucasian features, I'd like to ensure that if I am offered a job a few hours before start of the new semester (as can be expected from the Middle East!) it is as good as what the white man is usually offered.

If not, I reject it without giving it a second thought, and continue my teaching job at a university in a native-English speaking country! (Yes, what a travesty!)

[1400 Years]

Oh, and by the way, you suggest I should expand my search to the other Gulf countries.

I thought everybody on the forums here says that Bahrain, although not as well paying as the rest of the Gulf, is good place to work in because the people are nicer than the rest of their cousins, and that they are not so prejudiced.

Even when I worked in Oman, people, including Omanis, had said the same thing - that Bahrainis are nice but Saudis and Egyptians are the scu- ...

So ...?

[balqis]

ucb.edu.bh is a relatively new educational establishment - not more than a few years on the private market.

From the little that I know they ''cater for'' the ''educational needs'' of the upper social circles of Bahrain, possibly the regal ones too. Many a time those with money but not a very high GPA, who weren't able to make it to the usual government places, wind up there. Also those who want to ''have it'' the easy and funny way [ the last point being too banal to mention - an axiom, as it were].

Know no one who has worked there so can't relay any more specific info.

Yet I am still strongly of an opinion that it is better to work for a private educational gig in Bahrain than say U.A.E or Kuwait. This opinion is not just an opinion, but experience- ridden statement.
Plus Bahrain is a genuine - and still sleeping in the best meaning of this word - Beauty of Khaleeje.
Long sleep you Beauty and may your sleep remain undisturbed...

[veiledsentiments]

Well balqis, even if based on experience it is still an opinion since another person's experience could be different. Personally, I think I would find it way too small - rather as I found Kuwait - after two weeks, you've seen everything. (which is why I would put Oman at the top of the list) Add to that the weekly influx of drunken Saudis.

I always found it funny that they all seem to pretty much either hate or disrespect each other.

1400... Both Bahrainis and Omanis tend to be nicer than the rest and I put the reason on the fact that they are not rich and spoiled (in general, of course - stereotyping here...). They realize that they are going to have to work for a living, not live off the oil money. But it sounds like this school may be teaching the exceptions to the rule.

It all depends on how much you want to leave your job. If you do, I would still expand my search beyond tiny Bahrain with its limited job market.

VS

[PattyFlipper]

Mod edit

As someone who has worked in both Bahrain and Oman (on more than one occasion), I will take the former any day of the week. Oman is OK if you like the great outdoors, but as far as I am concerned, once you have seen one wadi you have seen them all. For those who enjoy a more compact, urban environment, Bahrain is infinitely preferable. It has better restaurants, bars, and shopping than Muscat, and IMO the people are generally friendlier, better educated, and to an extent, more sophisticated than the Omanis. The 'expat scene' is also more diverse and accessible for those who are interested (i.e. one's social life is not by necessity restricted to the incestuous company of colleagues and TEFLers).

[Neil McBeath]

It's interesting how accounts differ.

One of my colleauges is currently being visited by an ex-colleague who formerly worked in Oman and then relocated to Bahrain (enticed by a higher salary).

She is bored stiff there, and longs to return to Oman.

Obviously, there could be a whole number of factors at work there, and I only know Bahrain as a visitor, but I cannot help feeling that it would be easy to get a sense of claustrophobia in the Kingdom. The "sights" can be pretty much covered in a long weekend, and then you are reduced to going to places like Hidd, or Sitra, just because it is somewhere you haven't been and there is NOWHERE else to go.

[PattyFlipper]

I think as you say, it depends on the factors in play and perhaps really comes down to personal preferences. If you enjoy scenery, exploring new locations, and outdoor pursuits, Oman is obviously going to hold more appeal. However for those of us with a more 'indoor' type of disposition, who may prefer wining, dining and shopping, Bahrain is probably better, if only for the reason that its hostelries, entertainment venues, and services are clustered closer together in a more compact area. That said, Bahrain has nowadays become much more 'Middle Eastern' in orientation and focus (I'm not suggesting there is anything intrinsically wrong with that) as it caters more to the Saudi and Kuwaiti market - families as well as 'bachelors' - rather than to the substantially diminished Western expatriate community.

I can't say I ever felt claustrophobic in Bahrain, though I do sometimes feel somewhat isolated here in the outer-reaches of Oman's Capital Area.