Job Discussion Forums

[AngryB1ack]

Expat teacher accused of causing disruption at exam
By WALAA HAWARI | ARAB NEWS

Published: Jun 29, 2010 00:08 Updated: Jun 29, 2010 00:08

RIYADH: An expatriate English teacher has claimed she was sacked from a Saudi university after accusing a colleague of giving answers to students who were sitting exams.

The teacher was also invigilating during a Teachers Association Program (TAP) English exam.

She told Arab News that the other expatriate teacher started blurting out the answers loudly and gave a tutorial on the tests while providing examples and answers.

�That�s three answers I�ve given you�now you owe me,� the colleague was accused of telling students.

The teacher said some of the students, who are local English teachers themselves in various faculties of the university, were complaining that the other invigilator was disrupting their concentration and causing chaos.

She then went straight to the coordinator to inform her of the incident, who in turn referred her to the dean.

The teacher claims the dean did not respond well, accusing her of having a personal vendetta against her colleague.

She had only been working for her current employer for one month, as she had been transferred from another university in a different city.

After the dean suspended her, the teacher wrote an email to the head of TAP and other officials to report the incident, describing it as a terrible way to run a program at a prestigious university.

When the university informed her the next day that an investigation in the incident was taking place, she contacted Arab News. The next day she claimed that the university had fired her on the dean�s instructions.

Arab News contacted the dean of educational services at the university, who denounced the teacher�s accusation as baseless.

The dean also confirmed the university was carrying out a thorough investigation and questioning students and eyewitnesses, adding that the English teachers were not actually sitting exams but a simple course test. The dean added that the teacher was not fired but transferred to Riyadh.

�She had issues from day one, which we tried to solve, but she penalized the students for no-shows for three days,� said the dean, adding that the course was an informal way to provide a chance for students to interact with the foreign teachers and understand their various dialects.

The dean also pointed out that the teacher had presented her accusation on the same day of the incident, using inappropriate language with her superiors and threatening to go public with the story.

�Her accusations resulted in a confrontation with the other teacher and abusive language was exchanged,� said the dean, indicating that suspending and then transferring her was for her own safety.

The dean�s office is open to teachers and individuals who think there are issues that need investigating provided they have proof, a requirement that the teacher was not able to fulfill, said the dean.

Tariq Ibrahim, project coordinator at recruiting company Educational Experts, which placed the teacher at the university, confirmed she had not been sacked but transferred.
He said the university had feared for her well-being after confrontations with colleagues.

Ibrahim claimed the teacher had already been transferred from another university in the south of the Kingdom after she allegedly fell out with colleagues and even filed a lawsuit against one. She dropped the legal action after securing a transfer to her current university.

He confirmed that although the teacher had requested to go home, the company has no power over her should she want to stay and work in Riyadh, rejecting her accusation that her salary was taken away from her as a penalty.