Job Discussion Forums

[zorro (4)]

Hi all,

I was wondering what the salaries are at SQU for English teachers with MA Applied Linguistics (TESOL), 5 years experience?

Also, what's the teaching like there? Is it a good place to teach? Are the contact hours good? How about the housing? Answers to any of these would be very much appreciated.

Thanks.

[veiledsentiments]

Well, no one goes to Oman for the money. I am trying to remember what a friend of mine was offered a year ago, it was around 1000 with allowances... I think. Hopefully someone will come on and correct me if I am wrong.

They offer nice furnished housing, mostly off campus nowadays. but not too far away. Most people have few complaints about the housing. SQU has always taken pretty good care of their teachers - in relative terms, of course - and with a few individual blips along the way. But I have a number of friends who have been there since I was there in the late '80s.

One of the reasons that people stay there as long as they do is the students. The average SQU student will not dazzle you with their language skills, but they will be pleasant, respectful, friendly and pretty much a pleasure to teach. I think that teaching hours have crept up to the 18-20 a week range. Management is generally pretty laid-back, not obsessed with endless meetings, and mostly easy to deal with. Of course, there are always going to be individual personality clashes.

There are very few universities in the Gulf that have had as few complaints posted here. SQU and AUSharjah seem to have had the least problems over the years... although AUS is much newer. It's not perfect, of course, and I have known people who left at the end of their first contract... but it was normally the young and single who found the lifestyle a little too staid and quiet.

VS

[denise]

Veiledsentiments--I think when you mention how low the salaries are here, you are comparing them to other Gulf nations. Compared to most other regions in the world, though, the money here is good. Believe me, we could all do a lot worse.

The salary is 1400ish (inclusive of allowances), with housing provided on top of that. True, it's decent housing, but there is quite a range in terms of quality.

Yes, it is a good place to teach (for the reasons that VS mentioned), and those of us who are young and single can still manage to enjoy ourselves. I'm quite happy, with both the university and life in Muscat.

d

[Neil McBeath]

Once again VS has posted information that is inaccurate and based on her experiences two decades ago,

The basic salary at SQU is now 1100 rials. On top of that, there are University allowances that are worth another 200 rials, and if you live off campus then there are transport allowances (OR 75), electricity allowances (OR 36) and a water allowance (OR . hese allowances are more than sufficient for a single person, but a family with several children might find that they are just enough. If you live in housing on the campus those allowances do not apply, as the University pays all your utility bills.

If you are UK resident, then this is actually quite a good package. At the moment the exchange rate is VERY favourable to people who count in Pounds Sterling.

Someone starting at SQU coulde expect to teach 20 contact hours, with another 10 office hours. You would get one annual paid ticket, but there are actually two breaks every year, and there is no bar to your leaving Oman at your own expense in January. Leave is calculated at 5 days per month.

The "nice furnished houses" that VS mentions are now flats, and the "not far away" depends entirely on what you regrd as "far away". I am living in a flat proovided by SQU, but it is in Azaiba. That is a twenty minute drive IF the roads are clear, but at certain times of the day they are choked with traffic.

Muscat has grown exponentially in the last 20 years, and the suggestion that Al Khod is a sleepy backwater with only the university in it is completely out of date. In the 1980s all students were accommodated on the campus. Now only the women have accommodation. The men have to find flats in Al Khod or Seeb, and this obviously adds to the stream of traffic every monring.

The students are, almost without exception, extremely pleasant to teach. The foundation level students require guidance on time management and organisation, but considering the way that they are still taught in some of the government schools, they do very well. We are beginning to see the second generation of university students coming through - in the 1980s many of the original students were actually first generation literates.

[johnslat]

Dear Neil McBeath,

"I am trying to remember what a friend of mine was offered a year ago, it was around 1000 with allowances... I think. Hopefully someone will come on and correct me if I am wrong. "

"Once again VS has posted information that is inaccurate and based on her experiences two decades ago, (sic)"

Your comment about the post VS made seems, to me, at least, considerably off the mark. Please notice the passages in bold.

Regards,
John

[veiledsentiments]

You have to forgive Neil, JohnS. He is a tad obsessed with me and has decided to just attack whatever I say whether he is accurate or not. When did the university start covering electricity for on-campus housing? Or perhaps Neil could be wrong... naaa... that could never happen.

For instance, I said "housing" not houses... which gasp... includes flats in its meaning... but again it is all about the attack, not accuracy.

Perhaps he has been in Oman for too long... or perhaps he is just an ass.

VS

[lotsa]

Well, I know heaps of people that come here for the money, so unless one is actually here, its pointless to make comment based on what one thinks one knows! The money is very good at present, the employment packages are good, the people are great, what more could one hope for? The other day an Omani friend of mine thought that the reason why most westerners seem fixated on money is that they come from capitalist countries... he's not far off the mark. Yes, businesses here have to make a profit to survive but unlike a lot of European countries, lots of Omani businesses put back into the community a great deal. To conclude, Oman pays well and to suggest otherwise suggests a deep level of ignorance and naievity.

[veiledsentiments]

The "fact" is that if one has an MA in Applied Linguistics + 5 years of experience - like our Original Poster - and is interested in teaching in the Gulf, one can make significantly more in the other countries. I personally preferred Oman and was willing to take lower pay in order to teach there. But, many people are more focused on income because of bills back home or plans for retirement.

One friend of mine from last year's round of TESOL and TESOLArabia got 5 offers with similar credentials to the OP. The difference was that in Qatar and the UAE, the four other offers were US$750 to 2000 a month more than SQU. That is around $10-24,000 more a year that can be saved if one wishes. (and most can already save on what they are paid in Oman)

One does not need to be "there" to read a friend's contract offer and put the numbers in a calculator. It's basic mathematics... This is the Middle East section and compared to the rest of the Gulf, Oman's pay scale is at the bottom along with Bahrain (or Yemen if you want to expand the definition). I see no reason to compare the pay scale to somewhere in Asia or South America. But... in my opinion, Oman is the best place to live and SQU is the best employer in the country.

VS

[zorro (4)]

Thanks for all the informative posts everyone. I'll send them my CV.

On a side note, having trawled through Dave's for the past couple of days (I'm convalescing), I have to say that despite the odd dispute, the ME forums are very peaceful and grown up, with loads of great info. Research has never been easier. It's like a little tranquil corner of Dave's....

Keep up the good work all you regular posters, and when I've got some experiences to share I will willingly post here too.

[denise]

[Neil McBeath]

John Slattery,

For some reason you seem inclined to humour VS.

The moderators also give her considerable leeway, pulling posts that are in any way critical of her, while permitting her to launch ad hominem attacks as the whim seizes her.

Even so, just once in a while it might be nice if people whoi are actually working in Oman, the UAE, Qatar or wherever could be given the chance to reply to questions, without our unfavourite retiree putting in her oar.

We all realise that she is frustrated, lonely and a borderline obessive-compulsive - nobody else would post nearly 7000 times. Even so, when she starts posting to say that she can't answer the question, then it really is time to try to draw a line.

[johnslat]

Dear Neil McBeath,
For some reason, you seem to have a special animus towards VS. I've been on these boards a while, and I've seen countless examples of her having provided good, relevant info to people (often confirmed by many others) and of her being thanked for doing so.

This makes it difficult (impossible, really) for me to understand just why you have such an antagonistic attitude towards her.

Your most recent posts (which, by the way, don't seem to have been "pulled") first stated (incorrectly, in my opinion) that VS had "Once again . . . posted information that is inaccurate and based on her experiences of two decades ago."

VS: ""I am trying to remember what a friend of mine was offered a year ago, it was around 1000 with allowances... I think . . . Hopefully someone will come on and correct me if I am wrong. "

which you did - though she wasn't off by all that much, was she?

NM: "The basic salary at SQU is now 1100 rials."

So, Mr. McBeath, I'm wondering why you feel impelled to attack someone who, it seems to me, is only interested in trying to provide helpful information to others. If that is what a "frustrated, lonely and a borderline obsessive compulsive" does, then I wish that there were many more such individuals on this planet.
Regards,
John
.

[veiledsentiments]