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Future Bilingual School in Fahaheel Reputation
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Work for FBS Fahaheel?
Yes, they are a well run school
33%
 33%  [ 1 ]
Think twice, there have been many disgruntled ex-employees in the forum
0%
 0%  [ 0 ]
News in mixed, still worth considering
66%
 66%  [ 2 ]
Total Votes : 3

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johnnyrotten



Joined: 05 May 2016
Posts: 9
Location: China

PostPosted: Thu May 12, 2016 6:07 am    Post subject: Future Bilingual School in Fahaheel Reputation Reply with quote

Hello Kuwaiti Expats

I can't find any latest reviews on Future Bilingual School in Fahaheel. Nothing is turning up in search. Does anyone know about this school? I'm interested in feedback from recent years with the current management.
http://fbskuwait.com

God save the queen...
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neftoprestupnik



Joined: 11 Aug 2014
Posts: 18

PostPosted: Sun May 15, 2016 10:56 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I can't answer anything about the school. I don't know anyone who works there and have never been there myself.

HOWEVER, Fahaheel is an absolute dump. Perhaps the dumpiest of dumps in the giant dump that is Kuwait in 2016. If you are interviewing with them, find out about housing - whether they provide free accommodation and if so, where it is, or if they provide an allowance. Ask them if they will sponsor you for a driver's license in Kuwait (they are extremely difficult to get these days). Also, do not accept a total package - salary + allowances - less than 1500 if housing isn't free, or 1250 if it is.
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johnnyrotten



Joined: 05 May 2016
Posts: 9
Location: China

PostPosted: Mon May 16, 2016 12:14 am    Post subject: Salary is lower than that. Reply with quote

neftoprestupnik wrote:
Also, do not accept a total package - salary + allowances - less than 1500 if housing isn't free, or 1250 if it is.


Thanks for taking time to reply for me. You seem very adamant of this minimum salary. The offer is certainly lower than that. Can you please qualify this assertion further?
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nomad soul



Joined: 31 Jan 2010
Posts: 11454
Location: The real world

PostPosted: Mon May 16, 2016 3:13 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

johnnyrotten wrote:
I can't find any latest reviews on Future Bilingual School in Fahaheel. Nothing is turning up in search. Does anyone know about this school? I'm interested in feedback from recent years with the current management.
....

The offer is certainly lower than that. Can you please qualify this assertion further?

It's always best to research prospective employers before applying for positions; you'll be better prepared with questions to ask the interviewer(s).

Additionally, it's not always possible to get current reviews on international schools on this forum; most of the discussions deal with higher ed. Sometimes you just have to make a judgment call with minimal info. For FBS, check their website and/or Linkedin to see how long their administration has been at the school, and then look at reviews over that period of time.

These are dated threads, but there's still some useful info about FBS:
Frankly, Kuwait isn't known for strong salaries. Plus, pay is based on your specific qualifications, so it's difficult to say what's reasonable in your situation. I suggest you look at job ads for other international schools in Kuwait for salary comparison.
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johnnyrotten



Joined: 05 May 2016
Posts: 9
Location: China

PostPosted: Mon May 16, 2016 6:43 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

nomad soul wrote:
These are dated threads, but there's still some useful info about FBS:

Certainly, these are some rather negative reviews. They are quite old though. I really wish there was someone out there from this current academic year that could offer some thoughts about present management.

Nomad, thank you for the advice.
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nomad soul



Joined: 31 Jan 2010
Posts: 11454
Location: The real world

PostPosted: Mon May 16, 2016 7:23 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

johnnyrotten wrote:
I really wish there was someone out there from this current academic year that could offer some thoughts about present management.

Again, that probably won't come from this forum, which, if you scan down the discussion threads, focuses mostly on higher ed.

Post your questions about school administration over on International Schools Review and on general Kuwait expat forums (found via a Google search).
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neftoprestupnik



Joined: 11 Aug 2014
Posts: 18

PostPosted: Mon May 16, 2016 7:09 pm    Post subject: Re: Salary is lower than that. Reply with quote

johnnyrotten wrote:
neftoprestupnik wrote:
Also, do not accept a total package - salary + allowances - less than 1500 if housing isn't free, or 1250 if it is.


Thanks for taking time to reply for me. You seem very adamant of this minimum salary. The offer is certainly lower than that. Can you please qualify this assertion further?


Sure, happy to help. The reason that you shouldn't accept a salary lower than what I told you is that Kuwait is, in my opinion, an undesirable yet expensive destination for teachers, relative to other gulf countries. I am a man, and I can say that I preferred working in Saudi Arabia to the conditions in Kuwait.

Did you already get an offer from them? Can you say how much they're offering? Again, I'd take 1250 with free accommodation, because most decent accommodation will cost you minimum 250 KD unfurnished, 300-350 furnished. Renting a car month-to-month will cost minimum 120 KD. SIM card/wireless router is 15 KD. Food prices in the supermarket are really quite disarming. And, if you want to go out at all, it can be a costly proposition.
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johnnyrotten



Joined: 05 May 2016
Posts: 9
Location: China

PostPosted: Tue May 17, 2016 2:21 am    Post subject: Job hunting in reverse Reply with quote

This Kuwait job just sort of came up. I've lived in other parts of the middle east, so I went along for the ride, this far anyway. Now I am more aware of what kind of place Kuwait is and it doesn't sound like a very good opportunity. Thank you for offering your insights. Although, I'm interested in hearing more if they are out there. As for Googling all the answers, can't say I've found much about this school. Whereas, my post here in Dave's has already come up in the Google results.

Regarding the old reviews cited above: Even if new expat management at this school is better equipped to handle the teachers needs than 4-5 years ago, the owners will be the same. Ultimately, they are business investors in the education sector. The head management they have employed from the expat community to represent them for the other foreign staff will think themselves bastions of western values. They probably understand their position in terms of holding the "lowly non-modern eastern" values at bay for the sake of protecting the teachers from mistreatment in the "wasteland environment" and we should be thankful for that everyday. I've seen versions of this arrangement in the Middle Eastern ESL industry before.

Perhaps I'll give it a go another year. Living in Fahaheel sounds quite boring and the benefits... Nothing special.
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nomad soul



Joined: 31 Jan 2010
Posts: 11454
Location: The real world

PostPosted: Tue May 17, 2016 2:42 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

If you're highly qualified, apply directly to western-accredited schools.
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neftoprestupnik



Joined: 11 Aug 2014
Posts: 18

PostPosted: Tue May 17, 2016 4:09 am    Post subject: Re: Job hunting in reverse Reply with quote

johnnyrotten wrote:
Living in Fahaheel sounds quite boring and the benefits... Nothing special.


I can't stress this enough...living in Fahaheel might be exciting in the sense that crime actually does exist in this stinking ghetto as it does in other nasty places in Kuwait (Farwaniya, Mahboula, Hawally come to mind), and you'll be lucky if you don't catch tuberculosis while living there.
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johnnyrotten



Joined: 05 May 2016
Posts: 9
Location: China

PostPosted: Tue May 17, 2016 6:15 am    Post subject: Re: Job hunting in reverse Reply with quote

neftoprestupnik wrote:
this stinking ghetto as it does in other nasty places in Kuwait

That's a definitive opinion Laughing Laughing
Duly noted, thanks again.
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sheikh radlinrol



Joined: 30 Jan 2007
Posts: 1222
Location: Spain

PostPosted: Wed May 18, 2016 10:07 pm    Post subject: Re: Job hunting in reverse Reply with quote

neftoprestupnik wrote:
johnnyrotten wrote:
Living in Fahaheel sounds quite boring and the benefits... Nothing special.


I can't stress this enough...living in Fahaheel might be exciting in the sense that crime actually does exist in this stinking ghetto as it does in other nasty places in Kuwait (Farwaniya, Mahboula, Hawally come to mind), and you'll be lucky if you don't catch tuberculosis while living there.

I´d advise Johnnyrotten to take this with a pnch of salt. Kuwait is drab, very drab. So is Fahaheel but it ain´t that bad. The sea, the sun. Kuwait City is 20 minutes by car on the expressway. Also, Fahaheel has Caesar´s Restaurant! Smile
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johnnyrotten



Joined: 05 May 2016
Posts: 9
Location: China

PostPosted: Thu May 19, 2016 12:38 am    Post subject: Re: counterpoint Reply with quote

sheikh radlinrol wrote:
take this with a pnch of salt. Kuwait is drab, very drab. So is Fahaheel but it ain´t that bad. The sea, the sun. Kuwait City is 20 minutes by car on the expressway. Also, Fahaheel has Caesar´s Restaurant! Smile
Thanks for the counterpoint! Much appreciated.
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In the heat of the moment



Joined: 22 May 2015
Posts: 393
Location: Italy

PostPosted: Fri May 20, 2016 3:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Kuwait ain't that bad, IMO. The restaurants are very good for the Gulf.
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Bruno444



Joined: 26 Jun 2017
Posts: 1

PostPosted: Tue Jul 04, 2017 1:11 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

No sure if you took the job or not, but I figured I'd put this up as a warning to anyone else that applies to the school.

That school is a disaster, and every year I was there it got worse. There is no discipline in the school, the students just run around screaming and fighting all day long. That is not an exaggeration.

It's so bad my first year a kid died in the pool because there are no rules there. The kids don't learn anything, pretty much everyone is at a level three to five years below their age. Nobody fails, the administration changes everyone's grades to passing no matter how bad. Nobody gets in trouble either. A student could punch a teacher in the face and would only sit out of class in detention for a period.

Almost the entire western staff left this year. Like 70% of the new hires ran away before the year ended.

Don't work there. Everyone hates it there.
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