Job Discussion Forums

[USAMATHMAN]

Deleted

[millie18]

There is a website www.qatarliving.com where there is a discussion about various schools in Doha - including this one.

Myself, I know nothing about the school beyond its location and its looks. And it does look good. The facilities are all nearly "brand new". One issue might be the traffic but you would probably be provided with transportation to and from your accomodation (that's pretty standard here) although some people probably get a vehicle for their own convenience outside of school runs.

I see from the website you don't have to share accomodation (that's a big plus) - I would say the salary range is relatively low but they do say that it can be augmented by taking on more responsibilities. And of course, you don't have to pay for your housing or annual ticket home so that gets added into the mix.

Try Qatar Living - you might get some first hand news from there.

[USAMATHMAN]

Thanks for the reply. I read a couple of reviews back in 2007 that were not so good. I will try the website you recommended. Thanks again.

[lollaerd]

Posted: Wed Dec 16, 2009 11:49 am Post subject: AJA

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Another questionable school which somehow managed to get IB,
one of the accessory type of schools for a local lady.

The previous director - from Oz - bilked the budget and ran off with the funds.
He had impeccable credetials, Ph.D, vast experience.

A lot of problems and constant turnover of staff. My girlfriend's friends say the new director (an American) is tidying the mess left behind by this crook who was very crook ( and crooked, too.) He took off with a lot of money. The school has had a lot of problems but this new principal is doing her best so maybe this year there won't be so many resignations.

[lollaerd]

AJA has had a very rocky history. It started out as the pet project of a young woman who had a yen to emulate HRH and Qatar Academy. It soon turned out to be a bore so the school business was sold to someone else. Somewhere along the time it got accredited as an IB school, just around the time Qatar Academy was throwing out all students who could not maintain a B average in the IB program. They have an agenda to be the best |IB school in the region which is easy to do if you only have A and B students.

Gulf English and AJA were quickly awarded conditional IB accreditation as the students who had been expelled desperately needed a school to go to. These two schools absorbed the expelled students and started their own IB programs. So now AJA offers IB and/or GSCE courses.

There have been administrative problems from the beginning. The previous director, a crook from Oz, ran off with a small fortune of the school's funds. The new head, an American, is trying to hold the fort and so far so good according to most teachers.

Many of the teachers are from South Africa and Australia as they don't expect the high salaries British teachers do. There are also some Asians and various Arab nationalities (who mainly teach Islam or Arabic). Staff morale has improved with the reforms made by the new head.

Salaries are not very good and the housing next to the school is the pits. My girlfriend has friends who teach there. The building is badly designed, has no recreational facilities, a shortage of parking space and in some of the apartments your guests have to go through your bedroom to get to the bathroom. Some apartments are very small, very dark, with small windows and poor ventilation. The luckier teachers (old time staff) live in a compound in Aziziya but those places are very limited and some teachers have been obliged to share if they want to live in the villas there. They used to have some good parties out there but most of the teachers who lived there have quit or moved elsewhere. This is not a place to come if you have a family as your child will not receive the same quality of education offered in other schools. The majority of students are nationals with a handful of other nationalities as well as the children of staff. Not a good place for a single male teacher. One big problem is that they don't often give the NOC. Maybe this new head will be more civilized and professional. If your teachers are unhappy, let them go to another school.

Try the TES forum for further information. There once was a rather lively discussion about the previous management which went on for years but I think it has now been deleted. My girlfriend used to follow the saga that unfolded on the website.

Key in Al Jazeera Academy Qatar as your key words.

http://community.tes.co.uk/forums/36.aspx

Good luck.