Job Discussion Forums

[dorothy1]

Does anybody have any information on this college? The city? living conditions etc???
It seems pretty legit.. but any feedback would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Dorothy 1

[bulgogiboy]

Have a look at my previous post:

http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewtopic.php?t=92633


And you do know that JEC-PT is for male instructors only, right?

If you're enquiring on behalf of your husband then my advice is for you both to look elsewhere. Unless you're both masochists of course, in which place I strongly encourage you to jump right into the sandy oven of misfortune and misery that is Jazan!

And it most certainly is not a "legit" place to work!

[Hard Target]

As a current teacher at JEC-PT, I can tell you this place is a charade, and an unpleasant one at that.

The school has a split personality, since the Saudi management and western management are pursuing conflicting goals. Ironically, both sides fail to consider the needs of the students.

The program is in shambles, and only the most self-motivated and gifted students would be realistically able to navigate their way to completion. Yet why would the most gifted students chooses to attend JEC-PT?

As teachers, all the blame falls to us. We are rewarded with threats, contracts are not honored, and respect is absent at all levels.

So, if you want to really EARN your 40k, come on down!

[enigmax]

than there are to remain. If you are not the hardy, tolerant, adaptive, patient type - you will not be among the 'survivors'. Another reason to remain, other than the salary, is that this is an opportunity to make this college into something. That's one main reason for me remaining. I think those others who have remained should get credit for enduring the circumstances here. I have so far fared better than those who were not re-signed. Had I not, I had made up my mind to simply move on. There are plenty of other jobs here in KSA. All in all I live like an 'executive' compared to the majority of people here. Some people are better off in Jeddah, Riyadh or the Eastern province. If you can get an Aramco or uni job, go for it.
The rumoring and complaining here is endless. I try to stay out of it and I've heard it all. I participated in that when I first arrived but I have better things to do now. That's what most people need in order to stay here - something (better) to do.
I think we are making progress and I can only offer my condolences to the casualties of that 'progress'. It has been roughly 2 years since this program started. I would say we have another 2 years before the program stabilizes. We have to establish competence before we achieve excellence.

[ecocks]

[smitty]

I worked on a list of past employees of JECPT while I counted down my time. Only 15% of staff complete their contract. Of course, the school's side of the contract is not taken care of at all.

In the last year, there was minor improvement at the school, but for every step forward, they take 3 steps back. It's almost as if it is planned.

The Saudi IT guy threatening to shoot the seven puppies and the mom. As soon as that happened, we wondered how they'd top that. That was topped by the British PYP Director not letting a teacher take a week off to set up his brother's funeral. What comes next?

[Captain Willard]

[ghdtreb]

I have just applied for a job at JEC PT. The interview was positive. Now after reading these posts I'm wondering what I'm getting into. Can anyone be a bit more specific as to what exactly are the main gripes with the school? Also what is it like living in Jizan regarding social activities, food, places of interest?

Many thanks.

[fledex]

I left there at the beginning of December. I only stayed a short time, a little over a month.

The town of Jazan doesn't have much to offer, other than being on the Red Sea and having some islands off of it which you can visit on weekends. Otherwise, it is an extremely hot and humid place with about as much to offer as any other small Saudi city. The students and Saudi staff were all warm and friendly I thought, unlike Riyadh or Qassim, where I also taught. I thought they were a bit more respectful of the foreigners than in other places.

This might change though, given some of what I witnessed while I was there: the compound bus tires being slashed within the compound, a dangerous dog being kept by one foreign teacher, and some very rude language used by a foreign teacher to a Saudi manager. I heard of other crazy stuff happening after I left. So I would expect that the Saudi staff and students are probably beginning to get more frustrated and cautious toward foreigners.

There were problems with the curriculum and giving the teachers a standard way in which to present it. This caused constant concern and fluctuation. You can expect this, though, with a fairly young campus. Many of the long term teachers seemed frustrated.

The compounds are not nice places to live. My flat was in pretty poor shape and was causing me allergy problems, which I have never had elsewhere.

I'm sure there are others who can tell you much more, because I was only there a short time. Life is too short to be unhappy for an extra $1000 bucks or so a month. So if you have other opportunities available, keep them open. Odds are that you'll want to change after you arrive. Many others have.

[desert_traveller]

having read these posts here i think we can safely assume that this outfit is neither better nor worse than anywhere else in arabia. the issues listed here seem endemic in the entire gulf region. the tedium of living in a place like jazan is the only thing that really counts against this job i think. the rest is the same. or, should i say, same-same. my only question would be, how much do they pay?

[smitty]

Really? Not better or worse? A Saudi threatening to take a shotgun to 2-week old puppies? The British PYP Director not letting a teacher leave to arrange his brother's funeral?

The school went through 6 principals in 14 months including one who quit after 3 weeks when he was making US$10,000/month. They changed the title to PYP Director and they aren't paid as much. Who knows how long the next one will last. They hire principals but they aren't allowed to take control to run a school, so they don't last long. It's a "yes man" job. As long as they stay out of the way of the Saudi admin without trying to make waves, they can stay. I was only there a year, so not long enough to see that happen.

It's Saudi so there's nothing to spend your money on. The city of Jizan has a drug problem. Khat, hashish and heroin are the big ones. If you pay enough attention, you too can learn to spot the difference between a student falling asleep in class from a night of khat and one that's nodding off from heroin.

The school used to arrange the bus to take staff to the mall for shopping. That ended. They pay foreign staff on time with only a few problems. The bus driver wasn't paid on time so that was part of why he stopped doing the bus runs. Weird since he makes money providing certain staff with certain things.

Staff is left to fend for themselves for entertainment. Rent a car and drive to Abha where there's a Western restaurant is popular.

The compounds have problems keeping DSL working. It gets bad enough so that Skype won't work. The washers break, water runs out, and there's electrical problems. The security is poor. Jizan is 40 miles above Yemen and in 2010 the Houthi rebels were shelling the city. When the US Consulate came down to visit they basically told us we were too far south to evacuate if there was an emergency and wished us luck.

You can read more about the Houthi troubles by reading old Saudi news sites. I compiled a list of stories going back two or three years about it.

I think in the deleted thread, it was pointed out that the school makes money from the high turnover rate of staff. That's not going to change.

Year one, no bonuses were given out although it'd been promised. Year two, some were given out but it was random. A teacher who worked there a month or two got an entire bonus. Other teachers received no bonus when they should have.

I was told my contract was being bought out, then they decided to keep me and I was asked three times if I'd renew my contract. I didn't in part because I received no bonus despite volunteering to become an unpaid department head. I was told that there was no money to pay me for the extra work and headache of being department head, but it'd be made up for with the bonus. My teaching review was positive.

When I left, another staff member also left. He was the one who was told that they were going to take a shotgun to his dog's puppies. We had to fight for our severance. Most people don't complete their contract and the school wasn't expecting anyone to try to collect. The HR guy told us they had their lawyer involved who was looking for loopholes so they wouldn't have to pay us. The HR guy! When they had to pay, an email was sent out saying their lawyer said they had to pay. I have a folder filled with insane emails if anyone is interested. Why they told us that instead of one of the main Saudis taking credit for "doing the right thing" and making sure we were paid, I don't know.

Oh, the current HR guy was hired to do marketing for the school. The previous HR guy quit after disputing his own contract.

Like I've previously said, it's 15% of the staff who lasts the year long contract. Of that 15%, most stay longer. From end of Ramadan (beginning of September) until I left in February the school averaged one staff member quitting each week.

There's some really good staff there and there's some who escaped the loony bin.

[ghdtreb]

Thanks guys for your succinct information. Fledex, one month is fast, I hope you've gone on to better things. Smitty, one year seems a long time for that place, would it be possible to have your email add? I really would like to pick your brain some more. I'm about to make a huge decision.

Cheers

[veiledsentiments]

The two of you need to make a couple more posts (5 from each of you) so that you can send private messages.

VS

[desert_traveller]

[cmp45]

In other words...
...just how much BS you are willing to put up with or tolerate.