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[johnslat]

Not much application for Western EFLers, but interesting (I think) anyway.

"Private schools rattled by new order

By MUHAMMAD HUMAIDAN | ARAB NEWS
Published: Oct 1, 2011 22:49 Updated: Oct 1, 2011 22:49

JEDDAH: Private school owners have criticized new rules issued by the Ministry of Education stipulating that they can only appoint expatriate teachers whose iqamas (residence permit) state their profession as teacher and that they pay higher salaries to Saudi teachers.

The ministry ordered all workers in schools to rectify the profession field on their iqama to match their actual work. No school should employ a foreigner who is not under its sponsorship.

The ministry order also stipulates that school lab attendants should be Saudis carrying relevant diplomas.

A teacher should cover only the subject he or she has been approved to teach.

Every teacher should obtain an eligibility certificate attested by the education authorities.

A teacher should also be medically fit and he or she should never have been disqualified in the past. School principals should keep a file for each teacher documenting all his or her certificates, including copies of the iqama and eligibility certificate.

Schools should have separate rooms for computer labs and ensure each student has access to equipment such as computers, audio and video records, books, devices besides sufficient space in labs to meet the size of a class.

Nobody should live in a school except the guard, who must be a Saudi and should have a room attached to the school's main gate.

The new regulations hold school principals responsible for violations such as delay in salary payments, offering courses not approved by supervisory authorities and to hike school fees during the course of an academic year.

The school should have in place all safety measures such as fire extinguishers, first aid kits and emergency exits as well as a valid Civil Defense safety certificate.

School owners complain that the new regulations will add to the burden on schools, especially the stipulation that a Saudi teacher's salary should start from SR5,000 and the level of Saudization should be near-total.

They said Saudi teachers are not available for long-term hiring, as they are always on the lookout for jobs in the government sector where salaries and perks are very high."

http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article509867.ece

Regards,
John

[veiledsentiments]

Is it just me... my first thought when reading this was... NOW you are stipulating these common sense rules and regulations? Shouldn't almost all of them been in effect since the first school in the country opened its doors?

...wait... people (other than the guard) have been living in the schools?

VS

[johnslat]

Dear VS,

Exactly - inferences abound, don't they? Interesting - and it reminds me of the Arab News reader who asked a question of the feature called "Islam in Perspective," inquiring if it was really OK to take a shower after removing all one's garments.

It made me wonder how many years he'd been taking showers fully clothed.

Regards,
John