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Royal Air Force of Oman

 
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bookishbloke



Joined: 12 Aug 2009
Posts: 8

PostPosted: Tue Aug 18, 2009 7:53 pm    Post subject: Royal Air Force of Oman Reply with quote

I've been offered a job with this outfit, but I'm wondering whether to accept it given some of the negative comments posted on this forum earlier. These suggested that the quality of the accommodation available in the mess wasn't up to scratch and that there was a high staff turnover. Has anyone got any more recent info ? What's it like in terms of teaching? Thanks
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Neil McBeath



Joined: 01 Dec 2005
Posts: 277
Location: Saudi Arabia

PostPosted: Wed Aug 19, 2009 8:51 am    Post subject: Royal Air Force of Oman Reply with quote

The accommodation varies. If you are lucky, then you could be given a Junior Officer's Quarter with en suite facilities where the furniture does not have cigarette burns in it, where the carpets are not stained, and where the en suite is not festooned with corroding pipes, where the shower has a rose and the washbasin still has a plug.

If you are not lucky, then all of the above might be true.

In either case you will have access to the facilities of the Officers' Mess, but obviously you will be expected to pay your individual Mess Bill for such food and drink that you consume.

Yes, there is a high turnover. I refused to renew contract four years ago, and have subsequently returned to Oman. I have honestly lost count of the number of people who have left in the last four years, but the figure is certainly very high. I believe that the last person to walk out left in June.

For materials, do a Google search for my name, and read the article on materials that is on developingteachers.com
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Yorks Lad



Joined: 16 Aug 2009
Posts: 93
Location: England

PostPosted: Thu Aug 20, 2009 12:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The terms and conditions for RAFO are very good. Some of the teaching is very amateurish, which makes it frustrating if you're a serious teacher.
It seems from friends who still work there that they are now refusing to renew contracts from some of the very poor teachers.

The quality of accommodation isn't great, but many people find their own flat off base in time, though of course you have to pay for that out of your earnings.
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Neil McBeath



Joined: 01 Dec 2005
Posts: 277
Location: Saudi Arabia

PostPosted: Tue Aug 25, 2009 3:46 am    Post subject: Royal Air Force of OMan Reply with quote

Yorks Lad,

Your friends may be misinformed, or may be putting their own interpretation on events.

I've just returned to Oman and have done some calculations.

It would appear that in the last four years, something like 20 people have left RAFO employ. That may not sound like many, but in fact it accounts for about a third of the expatriate teaching force.

One person left on health grounds. Two left because they reached 65 and had to retire. Four, maybe five, were told that their services were no longer required, but of that number, two subsequently moved into positions in tertiary education in Oman, where they are still working - so they could not have been THAT bad.

Every other person either resigned, walked out without bothering to resign, or refused to renew contract. (Refusing to renew contract, incidentally, is the most intelligent course of action because that way the employee receives a terminal bonus, airfare home and assistance with shipping.)

One final point. To qualify for the level of accommodation that I have received from SQU, I would have had to be either a Wing Commander or Group Captain in RAFO.
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Yorks Lad



Joined: 16 Aug 2009
Posts: 93
Location: England

PostPosted: Wed Aug 26, 2009 5:45 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Neil,

I do think it's you that is "putting their own interpretation on events", as you put it.

"Refusing to renew contracts" is a very melodramatic way of saying someone completed a contract and then moved elsewhere. It's very common in EFL where many people want to see as many different countries as possible. I know at least one person who left RAFO only to return a couple of years later.

The quality of accommodation at RAFO is basic, I admit. Overall, however, most people seem happy with the overall balance between working conditions and frustrations on the one hand and the rewards (in terms of a substantial salary and three return flights a year) on the other.
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Neil McBeath



Joined: 01 Dec 2005
Posts: 277
Location: Saudi Arabia

PostPosted: Sat Aug 29, 2009 3:35 am    Post subject: Royal Air Force of Oman Reply with quote

OK, Yorks Lad, have it your own way.

I lived at RAFO Lansab, RAFO Salalah and RAFO Masirah, and I taught at RAFO Ghallah, RAFO Seeb, RAFO Salalah and RAFO Masirah - but you obviously know far more than I do about the conditions.

I, too, know of a man who left RAFO and then returned. He was a blustering bully; assiduously ensuring that he got out of the classroom and stayed out for as long as he could. At the end of his first tour he was "Omanised" - in other words, RAFO realised that he was offering nothing they could not provide themselves.

On his second tour he cried up his expertise as a computer nerd, turning timetabling into an arcane mystery, but came unstuck on materials production. The result has been a two year rewriting project.

Two further points. Firstly, the salary is NOT that substantial. In 1981 it was absolutely excellent. It was three times what I had been making in British Further Education. Precisely because of that, jobs in RAFO were at a premium. People came and stayed. Since then, the salary has slipped to below what a newly qualified primary teacher would make in London. The difference is that there is no income tax.

Secondly, the three tickets a year are worth some 1200 rials. If, as you admit, some people (like those who are married and want to live with their wives) choose to live out, it will cost them 300 rials A MONTH to rent a flat. 3600 rials a year is a considerable deduction from any salary, and will be particularly unwelcome if an employee has to been led to expect adequate facilities.
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Yorks Lad



Joined: 16 Aug 2009
Posts: 93
Location: England

PostPosted: Sat Aug 29, 2009 7:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well, I've obviously touched a raw nerve there.

I was merely speaking about my own experiences and those of friends I have who are still working for RAFO.

By your own statistics, the majority of people whose two years contracts have come up over the past few years have chosen to renew.

As I said, most people working there seem happy with the work/salary balance. I heard people complain (quite justifiably) about poor organisation at times, but I never heard anyone complain about the salary. Indeed, I had several friends working in other places in Oman who earned much less than RAFO teachers did.

As for comparing the salary to that of a school teacher in the UK, have you any idea how much harder it is teaching mainstream in the UK? (I used to, and there is no comparison between that and teaching at RAFO or indeed in any other EFL job I've come across).

RAFO requires a TEFL certificate and two years' experience. There are not many places either in Oman or elsewhere that pay such reasonable salaries on that basis. Of course you might be able to earn more with an MA elsewhere, but RAFO don't demand that.

I don't claim to know more about RAFO than you do. But I don't have an axe to grind either.
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Neil McBeath



Joined: 01 Dec 2005
Posts: 277
Location: Saudi Arabia

PostPosted: Sun Aug 30, 2009 3:34 am    Post subject: Royal Air Force of Omsan Reply with quote

You don't have an axe to grind? Really??

You have posted four times. Three of those posts have been in support of a job that you yourself seem to have left, but where some anonymous "friends" are still working.

Those same "friends" would also tell you that they are not on two-year contracts at all. They are on one-year, renewable, contracts, with the possibility of three months notice at any time.

Just as well you don't claim to know more about RAFO than me. Because you don't.
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Yorks Lad



Joined: 16 Aug 2009
Posts: 93
Location: England

PostPosted: Mon Aug 31, 2009 8:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Neil,

I really don't see what point you're trying to make.

I resigned from RAFO on the grounds of ill health, backed up with a doctor's note.

Firstly you said that lots of people were leaving RAFO. This may well be true but even your statistics show that the majority of teachers are choosing to renew. As I said before, people leave jobs for all sorts of reasons. Then you said that RAFO are only offering one year contracts with 3 month notice periods. This is absolutely not news in the world of EFL.

I have regular contact with a friend working in the Muscat area who is half way through a two year contract and who intends to renew next year. Another friend works in a different centre away from the capital area and has just renewed for another year. They and many others are happy with the pay and conditions that RAFO offer. If you were not, then it's just as well that you're working somewhere else now.
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Neil McBeath



Joined: 01 Dec 2005
Posts: 277
Location: Saudi Arabia

PostPosted: Tue Sep 01, 2009 4:01 am    Post subject: Royal Air Force of Oman Reply with quote

Thank the Lord you aren't teaching in RAFO any longer - you seem to have trouble with reading comprehension.

Bookishbloke originally asked is it were true that "the quality of the accommodation in the mess wasn't up to scratch and that there was a high staff turnover."

My answer was that the accommodation can be iffy, and that in recent years there has been an unusually high staff turnover.

You then weighed in with the unsupported suggestion that RAFO were simply clearing out dead wood, and confused the issue by saying that the quality of accommodation wasn't that good, and some people paid to live off base.

I then offered statistics, in support of my both my earlier points.

At this point you introduced two red herrings.

Firstly there was the assertion that "refusing to renew contract" was melodramatic. I would dispute that. Refusing to renew contract means that RAFO would have been happy for a teacher to stay, but that the teacher concerned was NOT prepared to continue. It is very different from resignation on health grounds, or for family reasons.

The second was your statement that "most people seem happy with the overall balance between wiorking conditions and frustrations".

No one is disputing that. Very few establishments are so truly ghastly that the bulk of the staff walk out on a regular basis. THe fact remains, however, that the turnover of staff in RAFO, in the last four to five years, has been so high that it has seriously compromised the Directorate of Education and Military Culture's ability to provide the English education support that is demanded by the Sultan's Armed Forces.

Partly this has been caused by the slow and steady erosion of the purchasing power of the salary on offer. Other establishments are offering more, and again, it is irrelevant that some schools offer far less. RAFO is NOT the place to work if you are married, and particularly if you are married with children, because all you will get is single status. During the insurgency in Dhofar, that rule made sense. It has made little sense since about 1985.

Secondly, in RAFO there is no incentive to pursue CPD, because even if you are dripping with qualifications, you will be offered the same basic salary. If you gain extra qualifications while working for RAFO, there will be no bonus or recognition.

Again, if you are happy to remain a teacher who has a TEFL certificate and a few years of experience, and who thinks that three tickets a year is a good deal, then you could be happy. It is a package that might attract people who are prepared to do a bit of teaching in between jaunts to India or Thailand, but it does not build the core of professionals that the Directorate requires.

I have no doubt that you DO know someone who is on a two year contract. That would be his first contact - and that, in itself, is interesting, because initial contracts used to be issued for THREE years. Once the initial contract has been completed, your friend/excolleague/acquaintance will be offered, as I said, a one year, renewable contract, that can be terminated almost at will.

On your final point. I would agree. I enjoyed my time in the Sukltan's Armed Forces tremendously. I loved working for RAFO. But the Directorate of Education and Military Culture, back in 2005, was being run like Stalinist Russia. A teacher's ability, dedication, hard work and loyalty counted for nothing; all that mattered was the depth of his genuflection to the party line. When you are told that someone has been promoted "because he's been here for 20 years and has caused no trouble" it is probably time to leave.

I am definitely far better off now.
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MattJ



Joined: 29 Aug 2009
Posts: 2

PostPosted: Tue Sep 01, 2009 1:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Can someone please tell me how to submit my resume to them?

I have been teaching in MENA for years and prefer the military style no nonsense

thank you!

Matt
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Yorks Lad



Joined: 16 Aug 2009
Posts: 93
Location: England

PostPosted: Tue Sep 01, 2009 8:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Matt J - Sorry, I don't know how you could apply to RAFO direct. I personally responded to an advert in the UK. They occasionally place ads on tefl.com or in the TES.

Neil - I really don't understand why you feel the need to be so rude or patronising. I personally found the RAFO deal to be a good one and I know many people who agree. (And there are plenty of good, professional teachers with just a CELTA). You didn't rate the overall package and found a better deal elsewhere. The vitriol from someone who left RAFO of their own accord several years ago and now has a much better job really is quite staggering.
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Yorks Lad



Joined: 16 Aug 2009
Posts: 93
Location: England

PostPosted: Tue Sep 01, 2009 9:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Matt J - On reflection, it might be worth submitting your CV to the Military Attache of the Oman Embassy in London. They handle the paperwork and that is where the interviews are conducted. They might pass the CV on to whoever is in charge of recruitment, or a quick letter to them might let you know when they are next interviewing.
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Neil McBeath



Joined: 01 Dec 2005
Posts: 277
Location: Saudi Arabia

PostPosted: Wed Sep 02, 2009 3:30 am    Post subject: Royal Air Force of Oman Reply with quote

Matt J.

If you write to

SO2 Education and Military Culture
HQ Royal Air Force of Oman
Muaskar al Murtafaa
Muscat
Sultanate of Oman

then the chances are that it will get through.

Bookishbloke,

You started this - so now you have to make up your mind.

You want to believe Yorks Lad, who left RAFO several years ago, and who hasn't been back to Oman since.

Or you can believe me - 24 and a half years service in RAFO - and my last visit to RAFO Lansab (the main accommodation base) was in June this year.

Yorks Lad,

Please find something else to do with your time.
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bookishbloke



Joined: 12 Aug 2009
Posts: 8

PostPosted: Thu Sep 03, 2009 9:19 pm    Post subject: Royal Air Force of Oman Reply with quote

Firstly, can I thank you Neil and Yorks Lad for taking the time and trouble to reply to my post, and for your concern. I shall have to weigh up your advice and observations and my own circumstances and reach a decision. Thanks again.
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