Job Discussion Forums

[SaharaDesert]

Hi,

Happy NEw Year to all !!

I am aware tha working as a teacher at the SABIS schools is not great.
I also know about the posts made by teachers who have worked for SABIS in the past and how much they hated it.

However I would like a CURRENT update on the
SABIS/ PPP/ ADEC project and what it is like to work as an advisor or a facilities quality manager, or just basic info about SABIS/PPP....

-housing ? modern ? clean ?

- salary per month ?

-job transport ?

-flights ?

-medical ?

Anyone who can comment on how the 2010-2011 year has been so far, please feel free to post.
Thanks.

[MoonOverSangha]

I currently work for Sabis in a PPP school. Honestly, all the horrible, horrible things I have heard about Sabis I haven't really noticed. That being said, I can' say I enjoy my job.
The pay is typically around 12,000 Durham a month and 100 percent medical coverage. That pay is for a teacher, not an advisor. In fact, I have heard the advisors make less. Teachers have 30 teaching hours a week, plus about 10 office hours.
The housing depends on several factors. First, would you be working in the Western Region, or Al Ain area? In Al Ain, I think they only have apartments, which you would most likely share with another person. The apartments are very nice, modern, clean, and comfortable. Transportatin to and from work is provided, as well as transportation in to cities such as Dubai and Abu Dhabi on the weekends.
If you live in the Western Region, then where you live depends on your gender. If you are a woman, you have a good chance of living in a 3 star hotel with a 5 star hotel right next to you where you can use all the faciliteis for free. Breakfast and Dinner are free, internet is free, gym, beach, pool, tennis, volleyball, squash, ping pong, etc, all free.
There are also a few bars and a sand golf course at the hotel, as well as water sports at the private beach. You may live in an apartment though, about 45 mintues from that hotel in a very small town with nothing really to do. All towns in the Western Region are very small, and very boring. And there are not much in the way of women out here at all. Again, the apartments are nice, but nothing really to do out there.
If you are a guy, you would either live in those apartments, or at a labor camp. Yes, a labor camp. You would have your own private room and bath, but no kitchen at all. There is a cafeteria where meals are free at scheduled meal times. There is a crappy gym with broken equipment, a swimming pool that is often filthy, though often clean as well, and basketball and tennis courts. Everything out here is oppressively ugly and oppressively boring. Also, some of the schools in this region are known for having some of the worst behavioral issues, and yes, they have huge behavior issues. At many schools you may find it impossible to teach because of the students behavior, though at some schools it is quite nice. It all depends on where you are.
There is never any issue regarding pay. In fact, often we are payed early. If you have a teaching certificate, I would look for employemnt elsewhere, as you can make more money working directly for ADEC, but if you don't have one, and are keen on working in the Gulf, need to save money, and don't mind living way out in the desert miles and miles from anything at all, then it isn't so bad.
Oh, and yes, flights are covered, and you have about 10 weeks of paid vacation throughout the year. 6 weeks in the summer, 2 weeks for Christmas, and one week in both November and March, plus a couple random days for national holidays
Hopefully that helps at least a little. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask.

[MoonOverSangha]

Sorry, one bit more. There does seem to be a HUGE difference between the PPP schools and the Sabis Choufeat schools. At PPP schools, you most likely will do your own lesson plans, though given a paciing chart from ADEC on what material ought to be covered, and you do have a lot of flexibility and freedom for creativity and your own ideas.
To be honest, I really do not like my job at all. I'll stick it out, but I do not enjoy this place. Having said that, my gripes are not necessarily with Sabis, they are with the educational system of this country, and the particular place in which I live. If I were in Abu Dhabi or Dubai, it would be better, and the students there I have heard are not quite as bad. I often have students in tears from all the fights. They are constantly biting, kicking, hitting, spitting, throwing desk at each other, etc. I have blood spilled in my class room many times. Kids will slam other kids head on to the hard floor and then kick them in the face and stomp on their heads, and all kinds of violent behavior. The schools do nothing to correct the behavior and basically tell you just to deal with it. And the kids don't listen. Somd kids are great and incredibly bright, but others are horrible,and honestly do make it impossible to teach.
It really is a great place to save money, especially if you are put in the labor camp, or the hotel. If you are young and single, be prepared to stay that way as long as you are here. I do here it is much, much better in Al Ain, and they do have a bit of a social life there. I am a guy, and I can honestly say, that I often go Sunday to Thursday without even seeing a single woman anywhere. The only time I see a woman is when I drive 30 minutes to that one hotel in town to use the gym there, or if I go to the big city on the weekend, which takes a couple hours to do.
It isn't all bad, and there are plenty of great things, and many of the schools sound wonderful, but sure is a luck of the draw, and in fairness to Sabis, while I don't agree with all their policies, I think they have done a very good job of trying to take care of us, and have at times even done more than they need to. I really don't have issues with the company at all. I know their reputation is horrible, but it seems most of that comes from some of their private schools in the region, not the PPP.

[veiledsentiments]

Gosh... doesn't that sound like employment heaven? This may be a perfect example of damning with faint praise. I agree that the only way it could be worse is if it was an actual Sabis school.

I hope you reach your financial goals so that you can move on to something better. Life is way too short to spend long at a job of this description.

VS

[Tripitaka100]

Wow, thank you Moon for your comprehensive analogy of your job.

I have (of course) read the many things written on various sites about Abu Dhabi/Sabis schools, but I thought...
1. People dont always write the good stuff, so they bad seems prominent.
2. A lot of it is quite old and things many have changed
3. I am used to the relative chaos of Middle Eastern schools and living compared to sleepy England.
...I am also an eternal optimist.
So thank you...I fly out this Thursday, and I am now terrified! lol

I assumed I was signing up for something similar to the Choifat in Cairo where a good friend works, a rigid but quality school with small class sizes and well behaved privately educated children.

Can you please tell me one thing? Are the schools there segregated? Or as a woman, might I face the kind of boyish behavior you have referred to?

Anyway, thanks for the info, I can only hope I am in one of those hotels with a good gym!!

[veiledsentiments]

The schools are segregated. The girls too can be a handful, but not quite as bad as the boys. This will be nothing like the normal Sabis/Choueifat teach to the test and test and test and everyone passes kind of place.

At best, it is likely a place to wait and see how things play out in Cairo. Even the best case scenario is that there will be much turmoil between now and the elections.

And it sounds so boring, you should be able to save some money!!

VS

[MoonOverSangha]

Well, the good news is that if you are coming to the western region and are a woman, you will most likely live in the hotel, which is the best living situation, and you have absolutely no expenses other than a cell phone. Food, utilities, internet, gym and beach membership, everything is paid for. Yes, the public schools are segregated, except for the KG schools. You may or may not teach at a girls school, as some boys schools have all female staff. There are not enough male teachers out here. You are probably here already though, so hope you are enjoying it. Again, not everything is bad, and life at the hotel is immeasurably better than the rest of us PPP employees have and you can save your entire salary if you want. Enjoy life here in the desert.

[welshchemteacher]

Great information on this site!

I am supposed to have a telephone interview with SABIS tomorrow but I'm going to cancel after everything I have read. I will only finish my PGCE this year and think it would be better to wait until I have at least a year's experience, then I can try with the International schools that have a slightly better reputation!

To be fair SABIS (Dubai) have been hounding me with telephone calls and emails, it looks like they are a bit desperate!

It would be a fantasic experience to teach in Dubai but I must remember that 'good things come to those who wait!' and feel that perhaps a year working in a school in the UK would be better than having a year's experience working in Choueifat...

Do people agree with this statement? Or at least if you are in Dubai can the potential of meeting people and networking enable you to pursue a 'better' job in a 'better' school next year? I've read that it may hinder you working for Choueifat..

Thoughts appreciated!

[helenl]

IMHO you are being wise. Sabis has a poor reputation. If you have the option to get some in country experience (UK US or whatever) you will be more marketable a year from now.
worst case scenario you are where you are now.

[ap4058]

OK here it is:

Most providers like Sabis, CFBT, Congnition, Nord Anglia etc... will be handing back schools to ADEC this year, some have one more year to go and will hand back schools in July 2012. The current plan is for ADEC to take back all schools asap and replace providers with ADEC teachers called LT licenced teachers. Thats the long term plan. These LTs will be placed in schools in and will have a floating cluster manager and may be Advisers that will visit and support LTs at work.

[mimi_intheworld]

[Tripitaka100]

Yup...I am now here, and sadly I did not get the deal many did with the hotel, all the facilities, free food and gym, etc!!
But, I did get a decent apartment, albeit very remote.
It certainly is a good life experience here. I would say the relatively chaotic experience of previously teaching in the Middle East goes a long way to your mental survival here, and Sabis are ok at providing regular trips�.to shops, where you can buy groceries to your heart content, but otherwise I think you have to be pretty content with your own company and like many people I am here short term just to earn some cash.

I have to say I like the school I am in. The classes I teach are small and I cant say I am very fulfilled in my aspirations as an educator, but I just hope I can make a small difference, share a bit of knowledge, English language and multi-cultural awareness.
The students are challenging and education is not the main priority for many of the families, so we have to strike a balance between our role and ambitions and the aspirations of the local people we interact with.

In answer to your point welshchemteacher, I think you are very wise to stick with the PGCE and get some experience. Then decide where you want to be. You will have many more opportunities when you are properly qualified.
Yes, Sabis WILL hound you and offer you many positions. Don�t feel you are missing out now, the world is a much smaller place when you have a certificate to teach.
AND YES, the contracts here, hundreds of miles in the desert are unstable, but Sabis has been around many years and will be still around in the future.
I don�t feel much loyalty to them as I see many inequalities and flaws with their system, but it all depends what you want from the experience of teaching abroad.

In all, its not as bad as I feared before I came, but I don�t think I will endure the isolation, loneliness and lack of job satisfaction too long. However, I will embrace the experience and one day�.in the future, I will be able to laugh about it.
The good thing is, there are many of us here in the same position and its great to meet so many diverse people, share life stories and network for the future.

[sainthood]

Given all this discussion regarding "It's not really bad, but....", what do people think of going with SABIS for the 1 year to earn the money?

I prefer to be a loner, and I can actually start on another Master's degree, and or finish a DELTA module.

What I suppose the basic question is, given what I'm after, what would be a better option than SABIS that I could easily get into, and will let me save well??

[Tripitaka100]

If you want to save money and have been offered a job in the western desert; take it! There is no better way to save, as there is nothing here and nothing to do.
You can always go on a shopping frenzy in Dubai or Abu Dhabi each week, all the shoes and handbags you could want (or shoes and wallets if you are a man) but thats about it.
You also have to be very happy with your own company so if you have study to do, you will certainly be able to do it.

As for your 'other options' thats up to you.

[happyroofus]