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rxfaith
Joined: 26 Jul 2007
Posts: 71
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 Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2007 2:46 am Post subject: Manarat Riyadh |
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| Does anyone know about cost of places to stay near manarat school in riyadh? let's say 2 bedroom apt. also, any info on the school would be great. |
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scot47
Joined: 10 Jan 2003
Posts: 15343
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| Posted: Thu Aug 23, 2007 5:20 pm Post subject: |
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No luck here
Have a look at expatsinsaudiarabia on Yahoo Groups |
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Latteegirl1974
Joined: 02 Aug 2007
Posts: 75
Location: Webkinz World
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| Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2007 12:53 am Post subject: |
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I think I saw Stephen Jones write something bout this school in a previous thread.  |
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canadashirleyblue
Joined: 06 May 2007
Posts: 162
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| Posted: Sat Aug 25, 2007 2:06 pm Post subject: |
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There have been a lot of threads on TES which have been deleted. I think it is generally known as Man - RATS! There were plenty of unhappy people there.
I have seen the inside of the school and it is physically ok. It is about 30 SAR from the center of Riyadh by taxi. |
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abdulrahman
Joined: 01 Dec 2006
Posts: 13
Location: USA
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| Posted: Tue Aug 28, 2007 6:05 am Post subject: |
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| What's wrong with the school? Why are people unhappy working there? |
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scot47
Joined: 10 Jan 2003
Posts: 15343
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| Posted: Tue Aug 28, 2007 12:15 pm Post subject: |
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| What should we make of an organisation that has placed an ad in the Arab News on 28 August 2007 for teachers in "all disciplines" for Jeddah, Khobar and Riyadh to start in September ? Forward planning is an alien concept. Imagine what the day-to-day administration of such an organisation is like. |
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Stephen Jones
Joined: 21 Feb 2003
Posts: 4124
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| Posted: Tue Aug 28, 2007 12:59 pm Post subject: |
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The three schools used to be separate (in the case of the Riyadh-Jeddah separation quite a juicy story).
The Riyadh school came under the King Faisal Foundation I believe. Anyway it seems they have all been taken over by a semi-commercial company, and I have been told they are trying to squeeze the maximum profits.
For example, when I taught Primary there you were guaranteed to have 13 out of 35 lessons free because they were taken up by Islamic Studies and Arabic. I have been told that now teachers are required to teach elsewhere in the school during that time to drive down costs. |
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abdulrahman
Joined: 01 Dec 2006
Posts: 13
Location: USA
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| Posted: Tue Aug 28, 2007 9:33 pm Post subject: |
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| Does anyone in this forum actually work at the Manarat School? Please share what it is like, and whether it is a worthwhile place to be. Thanks. |
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Van Norden
Joined: 23 Oct 2004
Posts: 409
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| Posted: Wed Aug 29, 2007 4:37 am Post subject: |
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| Do a search for "Manarat" in the Saudi forum. If you aren't put off by what you read you could contact the poster who is (or was) working for them. He has given his email address in one of the posts. |
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scot47
Joined: 10 Jan 2003
Posts: 15343
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| Posted: Wed Aug 29, 2007 5:39 am Post subject: |
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You don't need to visit the Arctic to know that it is a bit chilly there.
Manarat Schools in KSA have a reputation - and it is not positive. |
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rxfaith
Joined: 26 Jul 2007
Posts: 71
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| Posted: Wed Aug 29, 2007 5:51 pm Post subject: |
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My husband was offered a job there and he accepted. Contract stated the school will pay for family members. Last minute we found out that even though they pay for family member's flights etc they have to come on a later date. They said 4-6 weeks but I've read some horror stories of it taking 6 months and more. So that contract fizzled b/c we're not willing to do that.
Obviously wasn't for the best. Hopefully one of these days something will come up. |
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Cleopatra
Joined: 28 Jun 2003
Posts: 3657
Location: Tuamago Archipelago
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| Posted: Wed Aug 29, 2007 5:55 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| Last minute we found out that even though they pay for family member's flights etc they have to come on a later date. |
This is not at all unusual. Many places want to fly the teacher out first and bring out dependents 'later'. But I think you are right to hold out for somewhere else: even if they say they will only bring your dependents out at a later date, it's worth insisting that you all come together. It may work, it may not. |
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ootii
Joined: 27 Oct 2005
Posts: 124
Location: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
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| Posted: Thu Aug 30, 2007 1:39 pm Post subject: |
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| rxfaith wrote: |
My husband was offered a job there and he accepted. Contract stated the school will pay for family members. Last minute we found out that even though they pay for family member's flights etc they have to come on a later date. They said 4-6 weeks but I've read some horror stories of it taking 6 months and more. So that contract fizzled b/c we're not willing to do that.
Obviously wasn't for the best. Hopefully one of these days something will come up. |
This is not the fault of the school, although you might consider that they could have communicated this fact to you more clearly from the outset. It is due to the structuring of work visas: if you are employed, you are issued with a work visa and your employer is your sponsor. If you are coming to accompany a family member, then that family member is your sponsor. You cannot sponsor anyone if you are not yourself a resident, so it is not possible to bring your family with you when beginning a new contract. There is no obvious way around this, no matter how big your wasta is.
Had your husband accepted this arrangement, he would have come alone and received his iqama within three to seven days, depending on how quickly Manarat processed his papers. Once he had his iqama, he would have to apply himself for your visas. For this he would require a letter or reference from Manarat and 2000 SR - which the employer may or may not pay, depending on your prior agreement with them.
Your visas would only take a couple of days to process in Riyadh, and then be sent to the Saudi embassy or consulate that he had designated. You woud then have to send in your own visa application, together with a medical report for yourself, but not for children under 17. If that was all in order, your visa would be issued within two to three days of application.
Four to Six weeks is a pretty conservative time estimate. Some schools promise to "bring" family members of new contractees and then renege, but I don't know of any cases of this ever happening at Manarat. |
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umzakaria
Joined: 23 Jun 2006
Posts: 58
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| Posted: Thu Aug 30, 2007 2:45 pm Post subject: |
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| Hi there,according to the UK Saudi embassy all the employer has to do is request that the family all come out together;this is easier if the woman is the employee,if she is muslim she can argue that she needs her "mahram".Schools are not keen to do this usually as it takes more time and effort,which,as I am constantly being reminded,is one of the difficulties of seeking employment when you have a family,especially one as big as mine! |
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ootii
Joined: 27 Oct 2005
Posts: 124
Location: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
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| Posted: Thu Aug 30, 2007 2:52 pm Post subject: |
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| umzakaria wrote: |
| Hi there,according to the UK Saudi embassy all the employer has to do is request that the family all come out together;this is easier if the woman is the employee,if she is muslim she can argue that she needs her "mahram".Schools are not keen to do this usually as it takes more time and effort,which,as I am constantly being reminded,is one of the difficulties of seeking employment when you have a family,especially one as big as mine! |
Embassies act on the instructions of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which gets authorization to issue work visas from the Labor Office of the Ministry of the Interior, which gets its authority to issue work visas from the Ministry of Labour. Family visas are first approved by the "Istiqdaam" office, of the Ministry of the Interior.
A woman who is coming under a work visa may be able to bring her husband with her as "mahram", since there are other rules that apply in this case. But it is well neigh impossible for any man to have visas issued to his dependents if he does not have an iqama.
If you have a large family, you will be less likely to be hired since many employers are trying to cut costs and single men are simply cheaper than families. |
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