Job Discussion Forums

[Fiyakoni]

Be aware of Jazan University!!
---------------------------------

I would like to share with you my three years of teaching experience at Jazan University. I’m non-white native Canadian and had joined Jazan University in 2010 as an English Instructor. When I moved to Jazan city and had accepted and agreed to a teaching job offer at the University. Initially, they made me feel welcome, but it was a mistake to come there!

Though, I had a bad feeling about teaching at Jazan University from the start; but, I was there and I had to make the best of it.

Ironically, they had tried to make me sign in another contract with less monthly salary than that which I was initially offered. I had to put up a fight with them- they had painfully accepted my initial offer BUT they had uncounted my five years of teaching experience. The irony is that they wanted to cut down my monthly salary as much as they could regardless of my qualification, experience and country of origin.

My first day of the Prep year at Jazan University, I promptly noticed that some people in the upper management chain weren’t happy to see me—as I passed by, they used to look me up and down as I was a low life and they used to say to me sarcastically—‘are you Canadian’?--due to my brown skin color. These people were claimed to be educated in USA.

To them, if you were not white, you could not be neither Canadian nor American or British. Regardless of their ignorant comments, they were much more interested in making sure that I played by their rules —brown- nosing yes man.

During my three years at Jazan University, I was a dependable, thoughtful, considerate and conscientious person who was always ready to impart his enthusiasm in the most appropriate manner. I was very friendly and respectful towards my colleagues and students. I was very popular among students and they had always spoke highly of me. I have always followed the official decorum. I was a well groomed and well-dressed. I had never been late to my class and had always finished the assigned task with the time frame.

Let me cut to the chase: After three years of teaching at Jazan University- I was fired without notice and without reason. The Jazan University still owes me three years indemnity pay and forty two overtime hours which are over 6,000 SAR. In addition to that, there were salary discrepancies in September 2011 in regards to my Exit/Re-Entry visa mishap caused by the Immigration department at Jazan University. During the summer break of 2011, I was given to one month of Exit Re-entry visa instead of three months. As a result of that, I had stayed glued to London, England for nine days. The University did not fulfill its obligation by acknowledging the mistake made. Moreover, they cut down my monthly salary for those nine days that I had got stuck in London because I couldn’t resume my teaching duties on time. Till this day, the University owes me 6427.66 SAR.

The Jazan University is located in the town of Jazan city which has borders with Yemen. Jazan city 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. I thought the students and Saudi staff were all warm and friendly, unlike Hail where I also taught. I thought they were a bit more respectful of the foreigners regardless to their skin color than in other places.

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.

If you were accepted a teaching job offer at Jazan University, at the beginning, they will make you feel welcome, but it’s a mistake to go there for a variety of reasons:

a. On arrival they will make you sign another contract with less monthly salary than that which you were initially offered.

b. If you don’t agree with them- and tell them that you have a contract signed from your own home country, they may let you work for couple years BUT you won’t last long.

c. If you are not a brown-noser, they will find excuses to dismiss you for no reason and without notice.

d. It's a "yes man" job and as long as you stay out of the way of the Saudi Admin without trying to make waves, you can stay. This is what I observed after being there for three years.

e.The lip service, double standard, enviousness, backstabbing, gossip mongering, overbearing pride; blackmailing, briberies, bigotries, nepotism and self-indulgence are deeply rooted in the heart and mind of the ELC Management in Jazan University.

f. Almost every day, you will be assigned an administrative task as you if you were an office clerk.

g. At Jazan University, it’s impossible to have some time to plan your future endeavors because, at any given time, the upper management can come up with new and inventive ways to cut that time short.

h. If the teachers were to fail students, miss the classes, show up late, and/or seek medical attention due to unexpected sickness. He/ she will be booted out for that. I was there for three years and I had a bad feeling about teaching there from the start; but, I was there and I had to make the best of it.

i. As a teacher, you are NOT supposed to fail students. If you do, you will be discharged for that. There is no placement test for students coming to the University. More students enrolled into the University, much happier the Admin would be.

j. There are some fake Doctors that pretend to be important people and knowledgeable about every single issue on the ELC at Jazan University. Yet, they could really care less about the teachers concern. They’re incompetent, corrupted, moody and mean. They have an inferiority complex, and they’re dying to be naturalized as a Saudi.

k. At Jazan University, its common practice to hear that it’s more important to be a brown-noser than helping the students to achieve the desired target of teaching skills in the classroom.

l. At Jazan University, many non-white natives and non-native teachers alike with high credentials and teaching experience are both underpaid and in survival mode. Misery loves the University.

m. I was disgusted to see my colleagues being treated like disposable cheap labor, untrustworthy slackers by the overbearing policies of the ELC at Jazan University, although they are blessed with the knack of teaching in the most professional way and they are the hardest working and most overloaded teachers I know.

n. At Jazan University, your teaching performance as an educator will rely on “The Coordinators’ Evaluation Report.” Which is unfair, biased, and it does not reflect anything about the teaching practices of proven educators.

o. At Jazan University, it’s common to hear about the teachers’ dismissal based on zero grounds without notice and without reason. In the absence of Jazan University teachers’ tenure STATUTE, it’s wrongfully obvious that the sacking/hiring Manager can discharge any teacher at any given time for no reason at all. The expatriate teachers’ tenure ACT for the Ministry of Higher Education in the KSA has been abused!

p. One has to wonder why about the Saudi General Coordinator of the ELC management decorum when he often sneaks into the classrooms, out of blue and tells students to sign in a petition against some conscientious, well groomed, well-dressed, dependable, considerate, and professional teachers with a clean academic record. Ironically, he wants them to either paint with a negative brush, or he does not like them and he wants them to have those logs.

q. I was disgusted to see students slouch under the non-existent education system for this University that expects them to perform well on tests, which do not measure their abilities other than memorization, cheating and therefore do not encompass the full range of knowledge, skills, and characteristics that students need for full ultimate success, such as persistence, motivation, time management, employability skills and technical skills.

r. I was disgusted to watch the Saudi hard-working parents being tricked into believing that their children are being offered good education at Jazan University and they are being prepared for the complex world ahead, when, in fact, their children’s teachers are being mistreated, underpaid, and morally abused.

There were problems with the teacher’s recruitment at Jazan University. They always recruit teachers from Sub-continent with less monthly salary. These Sub-continent teachers with high credentials are being treated as disposable cheap labor. If you are non-white from North America or from England, you will more likely be hired with Jazan University with less salary and you are being subject to sign in a new contract that is different from the one you had already signed in from your own home country. There is no Western Administration alongside with the Saudi Admin in the ELC department at Jazan University. Hence, white teachers from the West are somehow unwelcomed to Jazan University due to recruitment corruption. The kingdom of Saudi Arabia gives a substantial amount of money annually to the universities to recruit Western qualified teachers BUT the ELC Director at Jazan University chose to recruit ‘disposable cheap labor’ teachers from the Sub-continent with less salary. The ELC Director at Jazan University cares about the quantity of teachers BUT he could care less about the quality of teachers and education system at the University.

I'm sure there are others who can tell you much more in case I missed something. Life is too short to be unhappy for troublesome signs of low morale that come from all this frustration, stress, and sadness. So if you have other opportunities available, by any means, keep them open. Odds are that you'll want to change after you arrive at Jazan University. Many others have.

[nomad soul]

Too bad you didn't research this university and Jazan city before applying. But seriously, why did you stay three years?

[Fiyakoni]

I have stayed there for that long for a personal reasons. One of which is that I'm a Canadian-Muslim and being in a Muslim environment, I thought, I could learn and increase my Islam knowledge. BUT I was wrong because majority of these people were not good Muslims.

I could learn, and practice my religion freely in my homeland-Canada. Religion discrimination in Canada is regarded as zero tolerance and all the Canadian are equal in the eyes of God (ALLAH) . I'm proud to be a Canadian and I can practice my beliefs regardless of ethnicity, religion and skin color.

Thanks for asking-- hope that answers your enquiries!

[nomad soul]

Actually, my question wasn't about why you came to Saudi Arabia, but about why you stayed at Jazan University for three years despite how horrible the experience was for you. Obviously, it's not the only uni in KSA.

[DLIguy]

[Wilsonthefarmer]

[fledex]

I worked in Jizan for a short time in another school. As I remember, the Jizan University compound looked nice from the outside, even with a cafeteria facing the sea. I didn't realize that they hired non-Westerners for the most part. I still don't understand why Saudis would hire Westerners, given the extra cost and other problems. Some places must just have quotas, I guess. Even Edex didn't make much money off the western teachers, their bulk of the profit came from all the Arab and subcontinent teachers they hired (mainly in other disciplines than English).

[plumpy nut]

There is a plus and minus for hiring both Westerners and non-Westerners. With Arab teachers there is direct translation. In a large class with adults this becomes minimalized, because someone in the class will understand the mimes and context etc. and define the word out loud. The large class also goes with grammar learning. Westerners would be important for things like Schwa, intonation, and the better grammar in some cases. For large classes with the student teaching that occurs, Westerners are better. However dollar for dollar are they more worth it. Westerners may more vital for selling a teaching product.

[trapezius]

Glad to see that the culture of cheating among students and of passing all students regardless of grades is alive and well. I want both those practices to flourish as much as possible. It is their country and if that's what they want to do, let them do it. Every action has a reaction, and the reaction will come one day, both here and in the next world. Can't wait enough for the day when they are punished for all the injustices they commit.

To the OP: You have taught in Hail and Jazan... any particular reason you choose very young universities in small backward towns? Next time, if there is a next time in SA, look at Jeddah, Riyadh, and Khobar. Each of those cities has a large long-established government university, as well as private colleges/universities as well. And oh yeah, now you know, but Canada/US are far more Islamic as countries (in terms of conduct) than this country could ever hope to be.

[Wilsonthefarmer]

[trapezius]

Oh hell no I don't tolerate any of that nonsense. Consider these:

1) I am so strict with regards to catching cheaters that new students don't even bother trying to cheat in my exams, as the word spread a long time ago that I absolutely don't allow any cheating.

2) I have been in an auditorium giving my exam with another instructor giving his exam as well, several times. I am totally baffled by the complete disregard some of these professors give to cheating. I can see and hear their students cheating left and right in very unsubtle ways without a single one getting caught.

3) As for admin putting pressure to pass students, I have had calls from the university owner regarding students, but have still failed them. I even failed a prince, and while the admin persuaded all other instructors the prince was taking courses with, they didn't even bother trying with me, because even the admin knows.

4) A new student came to my office during registration and asked me if he should take calculus with me or with the with the other instructor. Before I could say a thing, he continued, "Everybody says that if I want to learn I should take with you, but if I just want a good grade, I should go with the other." We both smiled and he left, saying he will take with the other one

P.S. Having said all that, students still rush to register with me and my sections get filled up beyond official capacity within few hours.

At the same time, yes, I want those practices to continue for as long as possible. Why? I guess I sort of touched on that in my previous post.

[johnslat]

Dear trap,

Good for you. On the few occasions when the Directors (various Saudis, of course) asked me to "help" a student, I always told them, "Sorry, I can't do that. If YOU want to change the grade, that's your prerogative, but I won't. He got what he gave me."

None of the 6 or so Directors I had over the years ever asked more than once. Some changed the grade; others didn't.

Regarding cheating, I used to make up four different versions of every exam and I'd tell the students, "If you copy from someone else, and I don't catch you and give you a zero, you'll get one anyway because all the other students around you have different exams."

Regards,
John

[DLIguy]

Well, John. At least you've moved beyond your infamous "10,000 teats"!

[johnslat]

Dear DLIguy,

You've blown your cover . GRrrrr.

Regards,
John

[DLIguy]

...or so I've heard!