Al Yasmina

I seem to be getting more and more TES messages from teachers who want to teach in the ME. Well, this gives me an excuse for included some old photos of RAK.


Dear Mr K,

Yes, of course I will help you, as much as I possibly can. In fact, you could call me on SKYPE. You can also e-mail me.

The Hilton Beach Club in RAK.

No, I do not know anything about Al Yasmina. Generally speaking, I would want to avoid schools with Arabic names. I am sorry that if that sounds appallingly racist, but Arab-owned schools have a very poor reputation. However, let us be positive. The obvious place to start is the school's own website. That will give you some clues about what sort of school it is, how big it is and so on. My guess is that quite a few of your students will not have English as their first language, so obviously there might be some questions related to that. Then you could have a good old rummage around on the Internet, to see if you can find any reviews or anything that anyone has said about Al Yasmina. You could also sign up with the ISR, aka the International Schools Review. There is a similar website, but I cannot remember what it is called!

My Mitsubishi - what a great car!
If you are a Chemistry teacher, then you will get an international teaching job. Oh yes you will. I knew a Chemistry teacher when I was teaching in the UAE and he was showered with unsolicited job offers, including a head who phoned him up at two in the morning and promised to "fix him up" with an attractive local lady! Incidentally, he resigned his job in the UAE because the school ummed and ahhed and then did nothing about fixing the fume cupboard. I am sure that you would agree that no good Chemistry teacher can teach A level without a fume cupboard that actually works. I am sorry to say it, but I have the impression that some schools in the ME have an attitude to safety that is at best a bit careless and at worst criminally stupid and dangerous. I would ask Al Yasmina some hard questions about the safe storage of chemicals and so on. If they do not give you some straight answers, then you should find a long bargepole!

The short answer is no, you are not too expensive, if you want to teach overseas. When I was teaching at St. George's School in Sofia, the school provided us with a very spacious two-bedroomed apartment, next to a big park. When we were in China, we also had a two-bedroomed apartment next to a big park (and very close to two metro stations). In both cases, the school paid all the bills - no, actually we had some small bills for electricity in China. Yes, small schools and those schools that are struggling financially will be a bit reluctant to give two free school places, but you would want to avoid those anyway.

Having taught in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the UAE and Qatar, I have to say that on the whole I preferred my five years in China to my time in the Middle East. Some people hate China, I must say, but my wife and I loved Shenzhen.

The view from our apartment
Last, but by no means least, it is still November and therefore the recruitment season for international schools has only just started. Therefore do not accept Al Yasmina just because they may offer you a job.

If you are really interested in international schools, then the best thing to do is read my blog bulgariawithnoodles.blogspot.com

Best wishes,

the hippo

Comments

  1. Anonymous9 December 2020 at 14:28

    I'd be telling him to tread carefully. Al Yasmina; an Aldar Academy, have been slicing packages left right and center along with many other school's in the region. The cost of living is through the roof too, and to top it all off, getting on or off Island in Abu Dhabi means passing through toll gates from Jan.

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