Job Discussion Forums

[1chunk]

Hi guys,

Keep an eye out next summer and in the short-medium term. You will see reduction in the PYPs and some closures. King Saud university and Princess Noura are two of them... Low oil prices will no doubt affect us all.

FYI of course

All the best.

[nomad soul]

The source of this info?

[1chunk]

[scot47]

Mystic Meg ?
The Oracle at Delphi ?
The Tarot ?

Are you aware of the penalties for Necromancy and Soothsaying in KSA ?

[nomad soul]

[In the heat of the moment]

A very important 'fact' that's backed up by absolutely no evidence? I believe we are in TEFL-country.

[MENA_chica]

[I-forgot]

[quote="MENA_chica"][quote="1chunk"]Hi guys,

Keep an eye out next summer and in the short-medium term. You will see reduction in the PYPs and some closures. King Saud university and Princess Noura are two of them...[/quote]

I've heard about the 2016 closure of the PYP at PNU, but not KSU. However, it still appears to be hearsay as no official notification has been received.[/quote]

1. It's PNU. Notification will be two days before classes are due to start.
2. I heard (hearsay warning!) that the program was closing but would be replaced with something similar on a much smaller scale. English teachers would still be needed but not on the current scale.
3. I also heard that the goal is for the agency teachers to become direct hire but then again I've heard that one for several years running and it hasn't happened yet.

[scot47]

My opinion is that the decision to provide Higher and Further Education through the medium of English was fundamentally flawed. It could work for well-funded elite institutions with a very selective intake. It is not suitable for institutions with a mass intake. Education and Training should be delivered through mother tongue - Arabic.

[bertonneau]

Sources? Type up any website and put in crisis in the middle east or Saudi Arabia and look at how fast Saudi and all Middle Eastern countries are eating through their reserve currencies. In five years most all folks will be gone as almost no one who has any respect will waste their time teaching here. Saudi will devour 20% of it's reserves just this year. In a few years when ISIS has truly penetrated their borders it will completely eat through their funds like a wildfire. I give Saudi two more years before the real affects truly raise their heads, reduced subsidies and the effects of Saudization will really stand out. Enjoy what you make here now as it wont last too much longer. I actually still have a well paid position, but the offers I'm hearing are a complete joke for anyone that isn't entrawlled with Islam would possibly want to stay here for much longer. It wont happen overnight, but far faster than Saudi is ready for. Anyone who has spent time here will see in five years and be saying wow I cant believe this is happening in Saudi. Exited PYP programs are only the very beginning of things to come here. Not that most arent a waste of time anyway, but salaries going to the bottom expats who thought about staying for 5 years heading home. Just look at most of the poverty stricken Muslim countries here and watch what happens to Saudi when they run out of money. They're going to rip themselves to shreds. Just watch. Oil at 40, 50 ,60, 70 or even 80 dollars a barrel just don't pay the bills over here.

[currentaffairs]

I don't think that it will all go potty quite as quick as that.. Oil prices will go back up, new fields will be found and new drilling technology will arise. I do think that Saudisation and changes in policy are going to have an effect, but probably more like 10-15 years down the line.

[plumpy nut]

[travelbug66]

I personally don't consider Saudi to be a pork barrel destination any longer, many of these PYP jobs are outsourced and I received a very low offer from ICEAT around 13,000 SAR a month to work for them at King Saud university in Riyadh. This is with an MA TESOL, CELTA and 13 years experience.
With regards to ISIS, I believe they will be very strongly attacked in the near future. They have managed to make enemies, with all the strongest nations in the world, the USA, China, Russia, Britain, France and I believe the Saudi Intelligence Services will be able to counter the threat from them. As another poster here said regarding jobs, some people are just lucky and have a good job paying upwards of 16,000-20,000 SAR a month, with decent compound accommodation, and then there are the unfortunates working for 12,000, and paying for their own housing and transportation. I drove in Saudi, and loathed it.
As always though, even though I turned down the position at King Saud university, I am sure someone younger, or who just possessed a CELTA or TEFL certificate would have accepted the offer.

[scot47]

"Pork barrels" in Saudi Arabia is a good example of unthinking figurative language.

[grahamb]

There's a lot of unthinking in the world of EFL.