Job Discussion Forums

[casio]

The McGill franchise is being run by an ex-employee of Jubail Industrial College. None of the teachers follow any McGill authored course book and with the exception of the program director none of the instructors have ever taught at McGill University.

The connection between McGill's franchising department and the Royal Commission seems to be based on a mutually beneficial relationship. The RC gets the kudos of being associated with a respected higher education body, and the McGill people pick up the big bucks.

Teaching salary is supposed to be around the 17000 mark for a 9-month run only. In real terms that means teachers aren't paid for 3 months of the year. There are no iqamas issued as this is currently a pilot project.

Rumor has it that the McGill franchise is set to take over the Special Programs Unit at JIC and also become solely responsible for training SABIC subcontractors.

Where this will leave the more established local institutes servicing SABIC is anyone's guess. That said, other establishments such as Elite and Industrial Academy claimed they were about to sweep the board and take all the business too. For a while they did before it all fell apart and collapsed in a heap. The old IA building opposite SABIC HQ is now empty and has a Grillo downstairs. Will McGill go the same way? Time will tell.

For all intents and purposes the McGill supremo, a ''Kurdish/Iraqi'' Canadian passport holder is rumored to be one of the most detestable people in Middle Eastern TEFL after perhaps the S Al Q, of International House. Some of his closest lieutenants openly speak of his incompetence as well as his obsession for shameless self-promotion. Not an easy customer to deal with.

McGill lead coordinators are some of the typical run of the mill types in the EFL business. Two have no prior experience of teaching English whatsoever and the third, a middle aged Canadian, openly boasted at a company do that he farted on a student's hat in the middle of a class. The other two coordinators have their majors in Business related subjects which of course makes them ideal candidates for managing and coordinating a language program.

McGill instructors on the other hand, generally seem to be quite decent. The bulk of the staff comes from the UK with a few North Americans and Sudanese immigrants to Canada thrown in the mix.

The accommodation is in the less than prestigious yet nonetheless dusty Jubail Apartments. It is two to a flat and the internal servicing of the building is above par.

Comments please.

[posh]