UAE schools are stepping up efforts to recruit more Emirati teachers in line with a national private sector drive. Photo: The National
UAE schools are stepping up efforts to recruit more Emirati teachers in line with a national private sector drive. Photo: The National
UAE schools are stepping up efforts to recruit more Emirati teachers in line with a national private sector drive. Photo: The National
UAE schools are stepping up efforts to recruit more Emirati teachers in line with a national private sector drive. Photo: The National

UAE private schools recruit dozens of Emirati staff but challenges exist, say headteachers


Anam Rizvi
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Private schools have intensified recruitment efforts to meet the UAE's Emiratisation targets, but securing Emirati teachers remains a challenge for some smaller institutions.

From January 1, 2023, private companies with more than 50 employees must ensure that 2 per cent of staff members are Emirati.

This figure will rise to 4 per cent by the end of this year, 6 per cent in 2024 and 8 per cent in 2025.

The policy was introduced by the government, as part of a major push to ensure 10 per cent of the private sector workforce is Emirati by 2026.

Organisations operating in free zones are exempt from the requirements.

Figures released on Wednesday showed that 28,700 Emiratis have taken jobs at private companies since the launch of the Nafis employment programme about a year ago.

Shiny Davison, principal at the Indian Academy in Dubai, said the school had hired two Emirati staff members, one of whom would be working at the reception and the other remotely in data.

Ms Davison said that before January the school, which has 135 employees, had no Emirati staff — although officials did try to hire Emiratis to teach Arabic.

“We try to look for Emiratis, but rarely get [applicants],” said Ms Davison.

“As a person who has lived in this country for 26 years, I totally support this programme. It's a positive move and I think it's essential.

“As the government introduces this there should be a little more clarity and availability of resources about where we can go for help to get people on board.

“If the government can provide us with the resource bank of people who are willing to work for different categories, it would be easy.”

Dr Beno Kurien, principal at International Indian School — Abu Dhabi, said their school had 55 staff members and had hired two Emiratis, one of whom would work as an Arabic-speaking secretary to engage with parents.

Dr Kurien said finding and hiring Emiratis had not proven a financial burden.

“As a whole, it is not a burden so far as it is at two per cent right now. If it goes beyond 10 per cent, it will be a challenge for sure,” said Dr Kurien.

“Finding Emirati teachers is hard as they prefer the government schools because of pay levels.

“Secondly, for teaching, there are prescribed qualifications, otherwise the person would have to work as an assistant teacher.”

He said that due to a shortage of Emirati teachers, many schools preferred to hire Emiratis for administrative work.

Employers urged to support drive

On Thursday, Abdulrahman Al Awar, Minister of Human Resources and Emiratisation, urged employers to expand efforts to meet next year's Emiratisation target.

Authorities said that while more than two thirds of companies hit the January 1 target, many firms had not taken the requirements seriously enough.

“Educational institutes have thousands of jobs, not only for teachers,” said Mr Al Awar.

“If they claim there aren't enough Emirati teachers, then they can hire Emiratis in other jobs in their institutes.

“We have meetings with many institutes and we heard many excuses. However, some brought Emiratis and trained them to teach some topics like Arabic, Islamic and social studies.”

Taaleem, one of the UAE's largest private education providers, now employs 204 Emiratis out of a workforce of more than 3,000.

Talat Goldie, human resources director at Taaleem, said the school group had hired Emirati teachers and learning assistants, and also took on citizens in their administrative, finance and human resources teams.

She said their schools had been hiring Emiratis over the course of the past three years and they did not struggle to meet targets.

“We weren't in a tough position the way a lot of other companies were,” said Ms Goldie.

“If you take all of 2022, I'd say we've hired about 30 to 35 Emiratis. But, before that we still had a good number which is way over the 2 per cent minimum we need to have.”

Gems Education launched Emiratisation Open Days for UAE citizens in October and were able to increase the number of Emiratis in the staff by 70 per cent between October and January.

The Gems Education initiative began with a special Emiratisation Open Day held on October 8 at Gems Dubai American Academy.

Attended by highly skilled Emiratis including Gems Education Alumni, parents and staff as well as university students, the event was an opportunity for jobseekers to network with education leaders, keynote speakers and hiring managers.

Fatima AlShamsi, head of Emiratisation at Gems Education, said: “The number of our Emirati [staff] increased by 70 per cent.

“For Arabic and Islamic teachers, we were able to recruit 13 for on-the-job training.

“Also, we were very successful in getting many Emiratis for teaching assistant positions and as teachers.”

As part of their Emiratisation strategy, Gems Education hired staff in Dubai, Sharjah, Ras Al Khaimah and Fujairah but Ms AlShamsi said they were most successful in hiring Emiratis in Abu Dhabi.

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Favourite book: Give and Take by Adam Grant, one of his professors at University of Pennsylvania

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Favourite place in the UAE: Al Qudra lakes

How The Debt Panel's advice helped readers in 2019

December 11: 'My husband died, so what happens to the Dh240,000 he owes in the UAE?'

JL, a housewife from India, wrote to us about her husband, who died earlier this month. He left behind an outstanding loan of Dh240,000 and she was hoping to pay it off with an insurance policy he had taken out. She also wanted to recover some of her husband’s end-of-service liabilities to help support her and her son.

“I have no words to thank you for helping me out,” she wrote to The Debt Panel after receiving the panellists' comments. “The advice has given me an idea of the present status of the loan and how to take it up further. I will draft a letter and send it to the email ID on the bank’s website along with the death certificate. I hope and pray to find a way out of this.”

November 26:  ‘I owe Dh100,000 because my employer has not paid me for a year’

SL, a financial services employee from India, left the UAE in June after quitting his job because his employer had not paid him since November 2018. He owes Dh103,800 on four debts and was told by the panellists he may be able to use the insolvency law to solve his issue. 

SL thanked the panellists for their efforts. "Indeed, I have some clarity on the consequence of the case and the next steps to take regarding my situation," he says. "Hopefully, I will be able to provide a positive testimony soon."

October 15: 'I lost my job and left the UAE owing Dh71,000. Can I return?'

MS, an energy sector employee from South Africa, left the UAE in August after losing his Dh12,000 job. He was struggling to meet the repayments while securing a new position in the UAE and feared he would be detained if he returned. He has now secured a new job and will return to the Emirates this month.

“The insolvency law is indeed a relief to hear,” he says. "I will not apply for insolvency at this stage. I have been able to pay something towards my loan and credit card. As it stands, I only have a one-month deficit, which I will be able to recover by the end of December." 

Brief scores:

Liverpool 3

Mane 24', Shaqiri 73', 80'

Manchester United 1

Lingard 33'

Man of the Match: Fabinho (Liverpool)

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Key changes

Commission caps

For life insurance products with a savings component, Peter Hodgins of Clyde & Co said different caps apply to the saving and protection elements:

• For the saving component, a cap of 4.5 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 90 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term). 

• On the protection component, there is a cap  of 10 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 160 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).

• Indemnity commission, the amount of commission that can be advanced to a product salesperson, can be 50 per cent of the annualised premium for the first year or 50 per cent of the total commissions on the policy calculated. 

• The remaining commission after deduction of the indemnity commission is paid equally over the premium payment term.

• For pure protection products, which only offer a life insurance component, the maximum commission will be 10 per cent of the annualised premium multiplied by the length of the policy in years.

Disclosure

Customers must now be provided with a full illustration of the product they are buying to ensure they understand the potential returns on savings products as well as the effects of any charges. There is also a “free-look” period of 30 days, where insurers must provide a full refund if the buyer wishes to cancel the policy.

“The illustration should provide for at least two scenarios to illustrate the performance of the product,” said Mr Hodgins. “All illustrations are required to be signed by the customer.”

Another illustration must outline surrender charges to ensure they understand the costs of exiting a fixed-term product early.

Illustrations must also be kept updatedand insurers must provide information on the top five investment funds available annually, including at least five years' performance data.

“This may be segregated based on the risk appetite of the customer (in which case, the top five funds for each segment must be provided),” said Mr Hodgins.

Product providers must also disclose the ratio of protection benefit to savings benefits. If a protection benefit ratio is less than 10 per cent "the product must carry a warning stating that it has limited or no protection benefit" Mr Hodgins added.

How England have scored their set-piece goals in Russia

Three Penalties

v Panama, Group Stage (Harry Kane)

v Panama, Group Stage (Kane)

v Colombia, Last 16 (Kane)

Four Corners

v Tunisia, Group Stage (Kane, via John Stones header, from Ashley Young corner)

v Tunisia, Group Stage (Kane, via Harry Maguire header, from Kieran Trippier corner)

v Panama, Group Stage (Stones, header, from Trippier corner)

v Sweden, Quarter-Final (Maguire, header, from Young corner)

One Free-Kick

v Panama, Group Stage (Stones, via Jordan Henderson, Kane header, and Raheem Sterling, from Tripper free-kick)

MATCH INFO

Rugby World Cup (all times UAE)

Final: England v South Africa, Saturday, 1pm

ICC Women's T20 World Cup Asia Qualifier 2025, Thailand

UAE fixtures
May 9, v Malaysia
May 10, v Qatar
May 13, v Malaysia
May 15, v Qatar
May 18 and 19, semi-finals
May 20, final

Five healthy carbs and how to eat them

Brown rice: consume an amount that fits in the palm of your hand

Non-starchy vegetables, such as broccoli: consume raw or at low temperatures, and don’t reheat  

Oatmeal: look out for pure whole oat grains or kernels, which are locally grown and packaged; avoid those that have travelled from afar

Fruit: a medium bowl a day and no more, and never fruit juices

Lentils and lentil pasta: soak these well and cook them at a low temperature; refrain from eating highly processed pasta variants

Courtesy Roma Megchiani, functional nutritionist at Dubai’s 77 Veggie Boutique

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Sri Lanka-India Test series schedule
  • 1st Test India won by 304 runs at Galle
  • 2nd Test Thursday-Monday at Colombo
  • 3rd Test August 12-16 at Pallekele
Updated: January 16, 2023, 12:12 PM`