Job Discussion Forums

[bullish]

Any info. on the school would be most helpful...salary, workload, housing? Is it true that the UAE requires an exit visa from the employer? (maybe that was Qatar).
I can't seem to find and stats on the school, which is less than 4 years old I believe.

[It's Scary!]

It's an end of the road kinda thing!

[veiledsentiments]

Very few "school" teachers post here, so any information on these places is hard to find. (ESL/EFL teachers mainly teach adults in the Gulf - university, military, oil)

I have never heard of any requirement for an exit visa in the UAE. That is a Saudi thing for the most part.

VS

[robinbanks]

Glenelg school mainly deals with the kids of the ADNOC companies,so would mostly be non local Arabs.you can get more information from the principal at:
[email protected]

[mimi_intheworld]

I have one friend who teaches there. She likes it well enough. The private schools don't pay as well as ADEC (public) schools do in Abu Dhabi. But they do usually offer tuition compensation if you have any school-aged children you'll be bringing over.

Sorry - this is all the information I have.

[GriffinParka]

A colleague has offered the following by way of a 'tribute' to Glenelg!...

Benefits offered in contracts have been denied to staff members after they start work. All who started at GSAD in 2009 had their wages cut after they had accepted contracts at much higher rates of pay, but it was too late for most of them to return to their countries of origin. All those leaving found out that the company would not pay the removal costs promised in their contracts. The school flouts UAE law by failing to pay staff before they leave the country and has informed them that �due to errors in calculation� the payment amount would be less than the school promised and agreed to in writing .

Obligatory government contracts are never shown, or even mentioned to staff. Perhaps this is because they stipulate working hours for teachers in the UAE. GSAD hours exceed this amount. The school exploits its status as an ADNOC spin-off to avoid all accountability under national law, so that staff have no recourse to the law.

Classrooms are well-equipped with latest technology. Although you will have to beg a security guard and sign a special register if you would like a pen for the white-board.

Students are much like anywhere else; some tricky, most lovely, some others: superb. Parents, terrific - just feel sorry for them that they are being fooled by an incompetent woman who seems to care more about her own prestige than about educating their children. Her apparent insecurity may stem from not having earned a Bachelor's degree in Teaching or in Education, let alone a Masters, as required by ADEC regulations for her position.

Teachers are assessed by how well they kow-tow to the "Headmaster" (which includes carefully avoiding correcting her appalling English). Teachers are also rewarded for adjusting students� grades so that no student fails and the children of VIP families remain on Bs and As.

To strive and do well, the quality of your teaching is unimportant. The headmaster has said �I don�t care how good a teacher they are, if they do not have the right attitude, I do not want them here�. Although most people would agree that �the right attitude� is very important in any position; it is just that this administrator�s concept of the right attitude is the stereotype of that of any other tyrant: obey me unquestioningly, even at the cost of professional standards, and students� best interests. This person is not interested in debates on any topic related to teaching methods or developments in education as it exposes her ignorance. Spying for her is requested of all trusted staff, and this will be key to your survival at GSAD. Those who decline to spy on their colleagues are labeled �negative�, demoted and pressured to leave.

I commiserate if you really are a serious teacher about to work in this school. If so, clearly it is best avoided if you wish to practice your profession in an honorable fashion. GSAD is no place for those who value education and students.
s

[Mushakil]

I have a friend who did a "runner" it was so bad, and based on her personality, she is the reliable type so must have been pretty bad situation

[It's Scary!]

[veiledsentiments]

You are assuming that getting a degree is actually related to doing well in a profession afterwards. How many MAs in education do we know that can't teach? And academic achievement has nothing to do with having a winning personality.

So, I think that you are perhaps being unfair to Harvard... or he could be a legacy degree... like GWB.

VS

[It's Scary!]

[veiledsentiments]

[It's Scary!]

[johnslat]

Makes for a great pun, though

Regards,
John