Job Discussion Forums

lacsap · Joined: 01 Apr 2007 Posts: 38 Location: South East Asia

There have been a lot of very positive posts here about Brunei, all true and indeed some by yours truly, and these are far exceeding the few negative ones. Most of the negative posters can also be easily identified as people who were fired, or just plain useless or mad. Anyway, just thinking that perhaps we do need to inject a little balance here. Wouldn't want people coming here thinking that they are coming to paradise on earth, the haven of peace and all that. So maybe we should just outline a few of the frustrations about the place, so that people coming here are fully prepared for what they will face. I'll start: the split weekend. Workdays in Brunei are Monday to Thursday and Saturday. Friday and Sunday are the "weekend" . I'll never get used to that. You can't go away for a couple of days at the weekend, the International schools work Monday to Friday, so if you have kids, school is a six day a week thing in most households. I could add more but over to the rest of you!

celtica · Joined: 29 Jun 2008 Posts: 137

Here's a few niggly daily/weekly things....

Having to attend 2 - 2 1/2 hour meetings conducted in Malay when you could be busy doing more constructive work.

The heat and filth of most of the classrooms and the stairwells....Teacher's desk so dirty that even with cleaning every second day the cloth is still black afterwards....

No working system of discipline.... so much smoking in the toilets the boys reek of smoke, as do the classes close to the loo.......

jsteventon · Joined: 08 Jul 2007 Posts: 191

The trouble with a thread like this is that grumbles are so personal! Also, the schools here vary so greatly.....for example, mine is modern, clean - no smoking problems and all meetings in English.

I agree not a good idea to make everything too rosy, but just needs to be borne in mind that everyone has a different perspective and everyone's schools is different....

JS

lacsap · Joined: 01 Apr 2007 Posts: 38 Location: South East Asia

Agreed Jsteventon, but is that not perhaps one of the problems, i.e. that everyone's experience may differ so radically. Imagine you arrive and are posted to a pretty crappy school, infested with rats (yes, schools like that do exist) teaching recalcitrant boys, without any interest in learning whatsoever, admin who either don't care, or who are actively obstructive, crumbling buildings and few resources. You think, well at least we are all in this together. You then meet someone who arrived around the same time, teaching nice clean, keen students in new buildings, supportive admin etc etc. What will you think? You know there's no hope of a transfer for at least two years, maybe three, so you are going to be a bit p****d off. Don't get me wrong, I very much like it here, but any newbies should be aware that things may not turn out quite as expected or promised.

malu · Joined: 22 Apr 2007 Posts: 1344 Location: Sunny Java

I'm surprised to hear about uncomfortably hot classrooms and offices. Don't Brunei schools have aircon?

celtica · Joined: 29 Jun 2008 Posts: 137

In a word.....NO.

The majority of secondary schools have bare concrete walls and floors, fans only. As alluded to above, every school is different though....some schools do have aircon in some rooms....the 'A' classes perhaps, or specialist rooms some schools ahve more aircon than others.

The classrooms vary from just recently upgraded with nice clean tiles and paint to grimy, mouldy, grey, peeling, damp and dirty rooms that have had no maintenance for years......and all stages in between.

Quality of electricity supply varies. Sometimes a room may have no fans for a week or so ...sometimes supply trips regularly until it no longer works ,....then you wait for repairs.....sometimes there is no problem.

This is what Lacsap was trying to bring out ....the day to day realities of all the differing (and often difficult) situations in the schools here.

IMHO.....Personal resilience/response to these issues is a BIG factor in life in Brunei.

celtica · Joined: 29 Jun 2008 Posts: 137

I should add that admin and staff-rooms on the whole have aircon. As do most shops and office buildings in town. ...

jsteventon · Joined: 08 Jul 2007 Posts: 191

Conditions in many schools are as Celtica describes - however personal perspective does enter into how much this bothers the teacher concerned. I worked in one of the 'bottom end' schools for years, but was very happy there, due to the really good working atmosphere which existed in those less than beautiful classrooms. Great colleagues and a good school to be part of....