DUBAI // One third of Emiratis who graduate as teachers do not take up jobs at government schools because of the time-consuming recruitment process, educators say.
Dr Mark Drummond, provost of the Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT), where the vast majority of Emirati teachers are trained, called it a "chronic problem" - and said it was one that could be solved if there was better collaboration between the education authorities and higher education institutions.
"We prepare very good graduates," he said. "But they sit on the shelf because they do not have immediate job offers - which isn't true for other professions like banking and engineering."
According to Howard E Reed, the director of the Dubai Women's College, it takes more than six months for their graduates to find employment at a local school.
"They are excited about going to teach but there is a lag period where it does not happen as quickly as they hope."
Over the 10 years it has offered its education degree, HCT has groomed more than 750 students for teaching careers.
The four-year programme, which adheres to international standards while providing local insight, is certified by the University of Melbourne and includes hands-on training in the classroom.
Mr Reed said their students' qualifications and language skills made them good candidates for professions outside of the education field, too.
"Some of them get opportunities in other sectors while they wait for a teaching vacancy to open up and they take it, not returning back to education," he said.
Dr Drummond said the issue was further fuelled by confusion about the roles of local and federal authorities, which left graduates caught in the middle.
"Obviously, one of the problems is the confusion with the education zones - the local authorities and then the national education ministry that lays down rules," he said.
"There is a vagary about the supply and demand, on exactly how many teachers are needed, for what subjects and how they conduct performance evaluation."
In countries like the US, he said, graduates often get placed within the school districts where they did their practice teaching, but that did not seem to be the case here.
Members of the Federal National Council recently debated a shortage of 800 teachers in the country's government schools. While officials at the Ministry of Education denied the extent of the shortage, the Knowledge and Human Development Authority said there was a shortage of more than 100 teachers in public schools in Dubai alone.
Michael O'Brien, the associate academic dean of education at HCT, said the education authorities were given a list of graduating students eight months before the end of the university year in an attempt to speed up the recruitment process.
"If our graduates could step into school from day one after they graduate, we would be able to retain them in the profession," he said.
He added the ministry must adopt an appropriate career structure and remuneration to draw more Emiratis into the profession.
Graduates who attended the eighth Annual National Teacher Education Conference, held yesterday at Dubai Women's College, said they would like to see a more streamlined process.
Ebtisam al Shaqsi, a teacher at the Kindergarten Development Centre in Dubai, said she had to wait for six months to get the job.
"The process takes so long, and I know this discourages quite a few graduates," she said.
"Some of the reasons we are given for the delay are 'we do not have experience' or, 'we have enough teachers', which is clearly not the case," she said.
"We have all gone through student training and the purpose of that is to gain practical experience," the HCT graduate added.
Aisha Salim al Mansoori said she applied for a teaching position with the ministry in 2007 but landed a job at a school in Sharjah only this September.
"I was on their waiting list for two years and went through so many interviews for this because there were a lot of changes in the ministry," said the primary school teacher at the Sharjah Khorfakkan School.
aahmed@thenational.ae
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
'Gehraiyaan'
Director:Shakun Batra
Stars:Deepika Padukone, Siddhant Chaturvedi, Ananya Panday, Dhairya Karwa
Rating: 4/5
What is the FNC?
The Federal National Council is one of five federal authorities established by the UAE constitution. It held its first session on December 2, 1972, a year to the day after Federation.
It has 40 members, eight of whom are women. The members represent the UAE population through each of the emirates. Abu Dhabi and Dubai have eight members each, Sharjah and Ras al Khaimah six, and Ajman, Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain have four.
They bring Emirati issues to the council for debate and put those concerns to ministers summoned for questioning.
The FNC’s main functions include passing, amending or rejecting federal draft laws, discussing international treaties and agreements, and offering recommendations on general subjects raised during sessions.
Federal draft laws must first pass through the FNC for recommendations when members can amend the laws to suit the needs of citizens. The draft laws are then forwarded to the Cabinet for consideration and approval.
Since 2006, half of the members have been elected by UAE citizens to serve four-year terms and the other half are appointed by the Ruler’s Courts of the seven emirates.
In the 2015 elections, 78 of the 252 candidates were women. Women also represented 48 per cent of all voters and 67 per cent of the voters were under the age of 40.
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
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In numbers
Number of Chinese tourists coming to UAE in 2017 was... 1.3m
Alibaba’s new ‘Tech Town’ in Dubai is worth... $600m
China’s investment in the MIddle East in 2016 was... $29.5bn
The world’s most valuable start-up in 2018, TikTok, is valued at... $75bn
Boost to the UAE economy of 5G connectivity will be... $269bn
