Job Discussion Forums

[Longton]

These three letters have recently appeared in The National.

A question of living costs

In reference to the article Pay frozen, rises hit and job losses loom as universities feel the pinch (May 13), many Higher Colleges of Technology staff are from the US and Canada and the current education allowance does not cover school fees at US curriculum schools, but this is not central to the problem here.

If the UAE wants a quality education for its young people, who are the future of the nation, it needs to attract and retain the best qualified and experienced educators by offering a good remuneration package.

These cuts have nothing to do with the ��economic downturn�� but reflect the Ministry of Finance�s concern at the rising salary costs that account for 80 per cent of the budgets for these institutions. The old adage is true: ��If you pay peanuts, you will get monkeys.��

Charles C. Dubai

Disappointed by cuts at federal universities

I am writing this in response to the article Pay frozen and job losses loom as UAE universities feel the pinch (May 13). As a UAE national and faculty member at UAE University, I am very much disappointed and saddened to see UAE University firing 200 people, including many faculty members and teaching assistants who are the most important component of any academic institution after the students.

I am disappointed to see our federal institutions� lack of funding, or what seems to be a lack of funding, result in job cuts and frozen salaries. Interestingly, annual merits and increments that everyone has been enjoying for years at the Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT) and Zayed University have never existed at UAE University. One would expect the same policies applied to all since three institutions are funded by the federal government.

In addition, national faculty members at UAE University are not provided with school allowances and end up spending a good portion of their annual income on the education of their children. Now imagine someone with three, four or five children attending private schools. Furthermore, the current housing allowance (Dh90,000) can hardly pay for an apartment with the current prices of real estate, causing many national faculty and staff to pay good money out of pocket in order to provide adequate housing for their families.

But as they say, money is not everything. UAE University is losing qualified nationals, both faculty and staff, to other sectors where the pay is much higher and the atmosphere is different. It�s a very unhealthy situation. This is in part due to the fact that the national faculty members and staff at UAE University are excluded from the decision-making process as well as the strategic and long-term planning. Of course the situation is even worse at HCT and Zayed University, due to the fact that the two institutions are not run by nationals. This is a bad situation and needs immediate attention.

By having nationals involved in the process, both continuity and accountability are assured.

Dr Ahmed Alshamsi, UAE University, College of science, Al Ain

I have worked for HCT in Abu Dhabi for almost 10 years now, and have never felt such a negative mood amongst the teachers as now, which is the result of this undeserved slap in the face.

For the college to renege on an agreed deal is one thing. To attempt to dismiss it, as the director of Abu Dhabi Men�s College did, with a single line of text in which an apology was not even offered, smacks of contempt.

The point about the value of the education allowance is also important. As teachers and lecturers, surely we should be allowed to place our children with the best possible schools? What is the worth of an educator and education if this is denied us?

When it looks like I can provide better for my children and still retain a reasonable standard of living in my home country, I shall do so.
That date has been moving ever closer over the years, and the recent unilateral ��restructuring�� of my annual pay increment means that it�s closer still. Soon it will be time to bid farewell to HCT, and I shall have no regrets at all.

John Simons, Abu Dhabi

[uaeobserver]

Those letters are an interesting experiment.

Let's see how many of the critics keep their job.

I'm really curious about "Academic Freedom." The recent public criticism of English preparation (poor), combined with people speaking up in The National and The Chronicle is really curious. I look forward to seeing whether or not the individuals speaking out keep their jobs.

[BrownSauce]

Me too - and I sincerely hope those guys do get to keep their jobs. Perhaps, since the arrival of 'The NAtional', we are witnessing a new era of 'glasnost' and transparency in the UAE. It would certainly be welcome!

I myself shall be off to take up a post in Hong Kong next academic year, and I'm wondering what things are like there regarding voicing criticism of the education system. Can it possibly be any worse than the situation here?!

[celticbutterfly]

[quote="Longton"]


'By having nationals involved in the process, both continuity and accountability are assured. '

Er, excuse me? It's the nationals way high up who are cutting the funding to educational institutions, when they are actually rolling in oil money.

It's a certain national at the top of HCT that is universally despised due to his whims and little schemes.

It's often the nationals who don't care enough for their education system, particularly as administrators and teachers, who make the K-12 schools such woeful places to educate their youngsters because they are too lazy to teach or work an entire school day or too scared to offend anyone with 'wasta'.

[veiledsentiments]

I suspect... and this is pure speculation... that we may have is a power struggle at the upper levels of the power families of the Emirates. One of the negatives of an educated populace is that they get "ideas" which loosen the strings of the traditional tribal structure.

I go back to something I posted somewhere else... although they are pulling in obscene amounts of petrol dollars... I suspect that Dubai's financial shenanigans have cost much more than we are hearing about... it is cutting into their funds to build those horrid palatial hotels and psuedo Louvres.

So... where to cut expenses? Education, of course... just as they are doing here in the US right now. The rich can not be expected to tighten their belts. (the richest can afford to send their kids elsewhere for educations)

Vs