Job Discussion Forums

[balqis]

Bahrain has extremely posh accommodation, truly incredibly posh, an inch away from luxurious, not to be seen anywhere else in the Gulf, I mean for average expat uni staff. Nowhere in the Gulf will you find a similar standard, size-and-quality-wise, of housing.
The UoB salaries are lower than BP ones, well they used to be at least a few years ago. The country is expensive, and all expats used to pay special municipal fee monthly. If remembered rightly, it used to be 40 BD. If it still exists, I don't know.

balqis

[scot47]

KSA has posh and super-posh, but not for EFLers.

[balqis]

Yes, but in Bahrain it used to be uber-posh for all the uni faculty. The style of construction when I was there was grand in scale and taste, and understandably so, as the Uni Presidents was Herself a pedigree Sheikha from the Al Khalifa family.
Everywhere else in the Khaleeje, KSA too, construction for the foreign Uni commons is designed to contain people on terms similar to herrings in the barrel, or, as you like, sardines in the can. Be it Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Kuwait or Qatar, or Riyadh, it is all the same.

balqis

[EFL Educator]

Well me says accomodation in Bahrain nowadays for EFL teachers is becoming more like a fish tank...not sardines in a can anymore....a teacher's house of sorts...full of a cast of bizarre characters!

[balqis]

My God!
So it sounds like everywhere else in the Gulf now fish tanks full of people, the plague not saving Bahrain?
On a Russian TV channel I heard a ''batiushka'' call recently the ''style'' of architecture that has also now littered the whole of once so pretty Gulf: ''columbarium''. I thought: how spot on.

And it used to be so pretty once upon a time in Bahrain. Why? Just the eternal why?

balqis

[EFL Educator]

Yes it once was beautiful....a pearl in the Gulf of Arabia years ago. What has happened is a huge "baby boom" population under 25 years of age which has mushroomed across the island pushing up rental costs... and they (around 70% of the Bahraini people)...are unemployed. The Chinese have also moved into the EFL teaching business adding pressure to cut costs (salaries) and benefits to EFL teachers. I have several former Canadian colleagues of mine currently teaching there..and all they say is that they are barely making ends meet due to high costs of living. They are teacihing at a couple international schools there...and all are also licensed teachers with postgraduate qualifications in TESOL!

[balqis]

Yes, the Chinese are evil, I agree.

But it was a disgrace to a genuine Khaleeje Arab a few years ago to go and live in such a barrel for the herring and the sardine. They were the thoroughbred masters of their own land and home.
Yet today I see the trend for the Arabs to go and join the modern columbarium growing, sadly, so much sadly.

balqis

[scot47]

"Evil Chinese" ? The war against Eastasia continues. Here on Airstrip One we are determined to continue our righteous struggle against the Yellow Peril and their wicked campaign to control the Spratly Islands and the South China Sea !

.

[sicklyman]

[EFL Educator]

Going back to the topic the salaries for EFL teachers in Bahrain are on the downfall...mostly due to the fact that a lot of the language academies/schools etc. are being run by the Chinese mafia...who have also taken control over most of the restaurant, hotel and service related businesses throughout the island. Lots of EFL teachers in Bahrain are now receiving an hourly wage for full time work...with few if no other benefits at all. A truly sad state of affairs for what once was a nice place to teach English in the Gulf!

[EFL Educator]

Going back to the topic the salaries for EFL teachers in Bahrain are on the downfall...mostly due to the fact that a lot of the language academies/schools etc. are being run by the Chinese mafia...who have also taken control over most of the restaurant, hotel and service related businesses throughout the island. Lots of EFL teachers in Bahrain are now receiving an hourly wage for full time work...with few if no other benefits at all. A truly sad state of affairs for what once was a nice place to teach English in the Gulf!

[scot47]

Bahrain could never compete with KSA. Salaries are higher over the Causeway and KSA is a cheaper place to live.

[EFL Educator]

Lately I have heard many English language speaking business ladies are teaching English in Bahrain....mostly made in China...and are receiving decent EFL wages!!!

[CaseLThor]

Leading a normal lifestyle, including going out on weekends and just getting a drink or coffee on weeknights, how much could one expect to save from this basic salary? I've heard accommodations and such are included as benefits with uni jobs, so I'm assuming it's pretty easy to save a nice amount.

[sicklyman]