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[Harold Jones]

I have spent the past ten weeks floundering at Jubail Industrial College, Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia and failed to complete my 90 day probationary period. I was summarily fired without warning three days before the Ramadan two week holiday and was lucky to find out that I had been terminated because I only just managed to complete the protracted final clearance procedures in time for me to receive my passport before the entire place closed for the holiday. I'm convinced it was only the intervention of the British Vice Consul in Al-Khobar that actually produced my passport in time: I was very nearly stranded for two weeks because the administration officers were clearly dragging their feet until the call came from the Consulate official. The affect was dramatic and the prat who issues the passports actually ran from office to office in order to speed up my passport release.

Holding passports is used as a threat against Jubail Industrial College Teachers and I know of at least one teacher who was deprived of a weekend break in Bahrain by the loathesome and spiteful Academic Director of the English Language Centre who refused to authorise the release of his passport. I shan't fully vent my contempt for the creature but will only say that after ten weeks of bullying from him I decided to perform an act in class that was bound to get me fired and it did. This came just days after being told that my three teacher evaluations had all been excellent and that I was one of the best classroom teachers every to have worked at JIC.

What went wrong? According to (MOD edit) some, I was, and am, nothing but a trouble-maker who upset too many teachers. Actually, I only upset the ones who brown-nose (MOD edit) and who would stab their own mothers in the back for extra brownie points from the rat in charge of the ELC.

Please Be Warned! Do your homework before going to JIC. The way new teachers are treated is regarded as a joke by the long-timers who have successfully smarmed themselves into positions where they are satisfied with their situations there. However, it isn't funny for the new staff and the run-away rate is alarmingly high which just goes to prove it. (MOD edit) No-one employed there would dare write on this site as they'd be terminated like I was. Teachers never leave the way I did; they always do the Bahrain Run. I think I'm only the second instructor to have failed the probationary period. (MOD edit) In the end, the senior admin guys at the Royal Commission did ask me to write it all down and document just what had done to me. I know other teachers have written complaints about him too. The word amongst the general teaching staff is that he's untouchable due to his Wasta-pull and this may well be true.

(MOD edit) If anybody wishes to take any of these issues further I'll be only too pleased to reply to comments or questions. I don't give a toss if my name is known or not; I'm back in Cornwall and they can't reach me here.

Sorry if I've offended anyone that oughtn't needed to have been offended but what I did and what I've said was required to put the record straight and warn people about the JIC. There are a lot of very good, hard-working teachers there and many (especially the muslim ones from muslim countries) are treated shamefully. I'm just glad this site exists and allows such comments to be brought to the attention of unsuspecting teachers who may fall into traps and live to regret it.

I couldn't resist the invective but I've spoken truthfully

H Jones

MOD: If anyone wishes to have specific details and names, please use PMs. Any further necessity for edits because of the use of names will get this thread removed.

[Tomton]

A great informative read and thanks for sharing your experiences about JIC with us. Sounds like a place to avoid!

[Hod]

They�re advertising on tefl.com today, and two days ago, and three or four times last week I think. They must have a lot of new students to need all these teachers.

[Harold Jones]

The JIC has no shortage of students and more are on the way as part of the Royal Commission's plans to expand. The problem is that teachers are faced with mixed-ability classes of 40+ and work schedules of up to 35 teaching sessions per week. Only the first 20 contact hours are covered by the contract you sign so you're coerced into taking on the overtime which is ludicrously low-paid and never delivered on time.

Keep raising the issues and maybe more staff there (or their) may just begin to enlighten the outside world as to what's going on at JIC.

H J