Teaching In The Middle East

[FarangNoi21]

my sister and her husband both have college degrees in Chemistry. They have no experience teaching. What extra requirements would they need to teach english in the middle east, japan or where ever else the salaries. What type of salary and contract would they be looking at? they would like to teach for 2 years at the same school and save as much money as possible. thanks.

[mbkudu]

From what I have seen from job listings for Saudi Arabia and the UAE, a bachelor's degree and a CELTA will get you about US$ 3,000 or roughly 100,000 Thai baht per month, tax free, free accommodation, paid flights in and out, two week's paid vacation per year and all visa and work permits paid on a one year renewable contract. I have heard from a reliable source that the Middle East is in great need of western native English speaking teachers. I haven't done it yet, but it's a plan for the future. Dave's has forums where people discuss the good and bad aspects.

Edited September 24, 2007 by mbkudu

[bina]

well if u consider israel as the middle east:

the teachers are on strike for the past two weeks over salary disputes claiming they can make more money as room chambermaids in hotels then as teachers....and the universities have joined in with their own strike (for different reasons,for the absurd raise in tuition)

so there's your answer as far as salaries go here.

we are paying a private tutor for my child at 110 shekel an hour to a non native speaker to help in math and english until the stupid strike is over; private teaching is way better then school teaching... and native speakers are preferred but we have enough here as it is for the most part...

in palestine areas (if u are brave) it may be different; in the israeli arab private schools (church affiliated i.e. like the anglican school) i suspect the salaries are much better

just my two satang in..

[Rumpole]

two week's paid vacation per year

Apart perhaps from the crappy McEnglish schools, I can't think of any organization in the Gulf which only gives two weeks paid holiday per year. The standard is one month plus local holidays and the tertiary institutions offer six to eight weeks.

A master's in TEFLology or similar is usually required for the better jobs, i.e. at the government tertiary establishments in Qatar and the UAE, but there are still plenty of places which will accept a bachelor's plus TEFL certificate and experience. Previous experience in the region is a definite plus, and will almost always get you short-listed for any position for which you apply.

Since the OP's relatives have no teaching credential and no experience, it is unlikely that they would be able to find even an entry-level position, except perhaps at places they really wouldn't want to work.

Be aware though, that conditions in the region are changing. Even though most of the Gulf States are once again awash with oil revenues, they long ago realized that they don't have to pay premium rates to get teachers, particularly TEFLers. The laws of supply and demand mean that salary levels have stagnated and benefits have been either abolished or considerably reduced. Living costs, and particularly rents, have skyrocketed in Bahrain, the UAE and Qatar, which means that on a teaching salary, you will have to choose between living the high life or saving money. It is becoming increasingly difficult to do both. The Middle East is no longer the panacea for all financial ills that many teachers think.

For anyone interested in working in the Gulf, I posted two detailed articles on TEFLWatch about living and working in the region.

http://www.teflwatch.org/forum/index.php/topic,41.0.html

http://www.teflwatch.org/forum/index.php/topic,39.0.html

Some of the information is a little out of date, but I think the articles still provide a good introduction to the Gulf area.