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[Noor]

The last half of the article is specifically about ESL.

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Downturn leads to surge in trainee teachers

Tahira Yaqoob
August 21. 2009 9:25PM UAE
THE NATIONAL

Although the global recession has seen jobs evaporate while economies stumble, one upward trend has materialised: a surge in the number of people training to become teachers.

Schools in the UAE say more professionals are inquiring about how to transfer their skills into the classroom or earn a teaching degree. Many have found themselves out of work amid staff cuts at their former companies.

Clive Pierrepont, a spokesman for Taaleem, which runs eight schools in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, said: �Six months ago we had hardly any calls, but now we get about half a dozen a month inquiring about teaching here. We have had inquiries from people who have teaching qualifications, but who have gone into other industries. They say they are returning from a career in, say, banking, or have got a degree and wondered whether they could get a year�s experience to convert it into a teaching qualification.

�These are people who always aspired to be a teacher, but their experience is in another industry. People are looking towards a safer job now and there will always be a need for schools.

�If you are a good teacher, there is a career development path. It is a fairly well-paid job in good international schools, and you learn very transportable skills.�

New Zealand-born Maria Pearson, who is in her 40s, lost her job as a retail training and development manager in March when her firm�s sales plummeted. She signed up for a class on teaching English at Eton Institute in Dubai�s Knowledge Village.

�It seemed a good idea to get some qualifications until the market picked up,� she said. �Training and development is an extension of teaching, and I thought the Eton course would help me pick up contract work. I was relieved when I was made redundant and saw it as a blessing in disguise.�

The course persuaded her to look into ways of introducing literacy lessons for company employees when she returns to her previous industry.

�The skills are something you can take with you wherever you go,� said Mrs Pearson, who has also started a long-distance degree in management. �Teaching is not as lucrative, but in a market like this, money is not a primary issue.�

Although Taaleem does not have a programme in which teachers can train on the job, the organisation is opening a facility in Dubailand where students with degrees in subjects such as banking or law can earn a teaching certificate. The centre is expected to open in the next five years.

Countries such as Britain and the US offer one-year vocational teaching courses for those who want to switch disciplines, but that option is limited in the Emirates.

Zayed University and UAE University each offer a four-year education degree, which includes hands-on experience in the classroom and qualifies graduates to teach immediately afterwards, while branches of the Higher Colleges of Technology have three-year teaching diplomas.

Many of those people keen to fast-track into teaching � and weary of spending four years as a student again � turn to online or correspondence courses with institutions such as the University of Tasmania and the University of South Africa.

The bookselling chain Magrudy�s runs a British-accredited postgraduate certificate in education course at its educational research centre in Jumeirah. The 34-week course, run in conjunction with the University of Sunderland in the UK, teaches an international curriculum and has seen a 20 per cent increase in applications since last year.

Unni Krishna, a manager at the centre, said: �These could be people who have found themselves out of work and keen to get into teaching.�

Peggy Blackwell, dean at Zayed University�s College of Education, said a vocational teaching course could be set up as early as next year.

�We heard there were people interested in going into teaching who had a degree in another subject and people working as teachers who wanted to improve their skill,� she said. �The faculty authorised a go-ahead to design such a project and we are hopeful we could offer it in the future.�

Meanwhile, many would-be teachers are trying to accelerate their alternative career by completing shorter courses in teaching English as a foreign language (Tefl) and Teachers of English to speakers of other languages (Tesol).

Eli Ghazel, who teaches a four-week Tesol and Tefl-accredited course at Dubai�s Eton Institute, said: �Since we started it seven months ago, we have had about 750 enquiries. We get an average of three or four calls a day from people interested in joining.

�We have students who have left industries such as oil and gas with high incomes � but with high income comes a lot of pressure, and the people who come to us want a more relaxing profession, which does not just involve business and networking.�

Twenty per cent of the Tesol course�s 75 graduates so far sought a career change, and about half had been laid off, he said.

�I have received about 25 calls recently expressing interest from people who have been made redundant. Teaching might have been in the back of their minds before. They are keen because it is more rewarding and gives a sense of accomplishment.�

A degree is not a prerequisite to training as an English language teacher at the Eton Institute. The only requirement is that applicants must have attended school up to the age of 18 and demonstrate a good grasp of English in an interview.

That has led to concerns at the Abu Dhabi Education Council that a flood of modestly qualified English teachers could do more harm than good. The agency said less than 10 per cent of English teachers they tested in the city�s state schools met the minimum standard of English proficiency, and has ordered all state school students to be taught maths and science in English by 2012.

But Mr Ghazel said all of the school�s graduates were stringently certified.

One of his graduates was Lee Donaldson, 33, a former recruitment consultant, who was stumped about what to do when she was made redundant in November 2008.

With a degree in engineering and a background in customer service in her native UK, teaching was not the obvious choice.

�I just sat down and thought through exactly what I enjoyed and what type of work would interest me,� she said. As she made lists, it occurred to her she had enjoyed the coaching and mentoring aspect of her previous jobs.

�Recruitment was something I tried but did not love,� she said. �I did love corporate training, though, and knew in my next job, I wanted to involve the mentoring part of it. I saw an ad for the Tesol course, then spoke to Eton and liked the sound of it � and I had nothing to lose.�

A week after she completed the course, Mrs Donaldson was offered a job at the Eton Institute teaching English to adults.

Salaries ranging from Dh12,000 (US$3,300) to Dh35,000 a month meant taking a pay cut but, she said: �It is not about the money. I saw it as a career opportunity.�

http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090822/NATIONAL/708219786/1010

[veiledsentiments]

[Afra]

I think more specific information is required - then we can all apply for 35,000 aed per month!