Yet another surprising piece in the UAE education reform puzzle emerged today with two articles in the National describing the difficulties of prospective Emirati teachers in finding a job. Given the drive towards Emiratisation and the urgent need for local involvement in education, something doesn’t quite add up here.
In an attempt to clarify this issue, here are some of the main points mentioned in the articles (Emirati graduates give up on teaching & Teaching candidates ready-and waiting):
- „They find that school authorities have often filled positions with much cheaper Arab expatriates before the Emirati trainees graduate, university officials say.“ (see article) Figures are mentioned as follows: „Expatriate government school teachers typically earn between Dh7,000 (US$1,900) and Dh8,000 a month, far less than Emiratis, who are paid between Dh17,000 and Dh19,000.“ (article) I’d like to see those figures confirmed by ADEC, though.
- „Michael O’Brien, the associate academic dean for education at the Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT), said at least a third of newly qualified teachers looked for opportunities outside of teaching because they “get frustrated waiting” for a job in the nation’s schools. Some prospective teachers complain that they are being squeezed out by schools that prefer to hire native English speakers. “ (article) Well, IELTS scores for the UAE are rather shocking, especially in view of the amount of money spent. In 2008, the UAE finished second to last (Qatar was last) in the list of countries published on ielts.org, bested by countries like Bangladesh and Nepal (ielts.org).
- „Dr Peggy Blackwell, the dean of the college of education at Zayed University, said she did not think her students had encountered “problems like that at all”.“ (article) Does this point to an issue unique to HCT?
- ADEC’s response: „“Adec has proactively sought out Emirati graduates as teachers by going to universities for recruitment,” she said. “We don’t know why they would feel like they’re having difficulty because we’re doing proactive Emiratisation.”“ (article)
Regardless of how this mystery eventually unravels, the fact remains that education reform in the UAE will only be successful in the long run if the local population, from parents to teachers, take control of their own situation.