Job Discussion Forums

[RandaHarke]

I hear that Nibras International School is advertising for teachers again and this school should be avoided unless you are truly, truly desperate. It's a never ending drama that ends in teachers being cheated out of end of year benefits. So many teachers left at the end of last year that there was no continuity and had a very messy start again according to a couple of teachers who stayed. They will tell you that things have changed now that Saad is no longer the director but his ghost still wanders the hallways (the principal and owner still cannot bear to tell the truth to the teachers that Saad was fired from Nibras at the end of last year for incompetence). They continue to house teachers in the worst building in International City. This building reeks of sewage 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Many who lived there had respiratory problems last year. The ride to and from school takes 1.5 hours a day. It's more like a funeral procession than a celebration of a days work. If they agree to house you illegally at the school, you will have to put up with paper thin walls, a broken air-conditioning system and rats. They will trick you into believing that they will honor a one year contract as they deceive you into believing that only a three year contract is possible for a visa. Do yourself a favor and skip this school if at all possible because the best leave, the worst stay and the cycle of decay continues unabated.

[BrownSauce]

I'd like to support the statement above. One of my wife's friends found a job there last year and was consistently lied to, deceived at every opportunity, and eventually screwed out of her gratuity. It was a very soul-destroying and demotivating experience for her.

A nastier place you could not find - not even in the UAE! The comment about only the truly dreadful teachers staying is absolutely true - maybe they hit it off with the terrible admin and management?! So, avoid NIBRAS at all costs!

[boxcarwilly]

I worked with this outfit last year. The former secondary coordinator used to have a saying about Nibras: �the cream leaves, the cra* stays and because of that the school gets worse every year�. The school does not have 5 years of experience; because of the desertion rate, they have one year of experience 5 times over. Before I signed on, a departing teacher tried to warn me off about the school but I did not have time to talk to her at length. I signed a contract with them mostly out of desperation because my first opportunity fell through at the last moment. I can tell you that their word is good for nothing. They tricked that coordinator�s wife into signing a three year Arabic contract supposedly for visa purposes only, while swearing that they would honor the provisions for the one year contract she signed first (I was outside the door and literally heard the conversation). They lied and said that the rule in the UAE had changed and that only a three year visa was now possible. Then they proceeded to say that she had violated a 3 year contract by leaving at the end of her one year contract and destroyed her end of contract benefits. They were really mean: the booked a very expensive airfare home for her and then took the airfare out of her end of term payout. She ended up paying three times what it should have cost. This was done to other teachers also. The housing at International City was horrible. The smell of sewage processing was non stop, 24 hours a day. I personally know of a number of teachers that never quite got over their respiratory colds. The best thing about Nibras is the leaving. I can tell you from experience that the less time you stay, the easier it is to recover. I moved on to a comparatively great job. The key is to find a school where the western management shields you from the native management and that simply did not happen at Nibras. Because the way Nibras is set up and the mentality of the owners, in can never be anything more than a revolving door for good teachers. As Randa said, the cycle of decay continues�