to consider moving to Dubai/Abu Dhabi/Doha to teach (sorry - long)

[IrishTeacher]

Posting here for traffic. AIBU seems to be more active than the Staff Room forum.

I recently qualified as a geography teacher. I'm 38. I'm Irish and live in the Republic of Ireland.
It is VERY difficult to get full time work here as teacher. The system here is vastly different to the UK.
A permanent job? Just forget it.
At the moment, I can't even get some subbing work. There is none to be had.
I'm claiming social welfare and my savings are dwindling.
Living in Dublin is out because rent is sky high, housing is in short supply and I might as well go to Manhattan, in that case.
I do not wish to teach in the UK because the education system has been run into the ground there and teachers are leaving in their droves.

I'm considering moving to Dubai or the ME, where there seems to be plenty of work.
From there, 2 years down the line, I'm considering applying for the skills visa to Australia and settling there.

The only things that are stopping me are:

• My parents are getting on in years - 75+. I do have a sibling and their family who lives near them, so they would not be left alone. They are good health at the moment.
• I do feel that if I go this time, it is permanent. So i need to be sure. I have lived abroad before.

The things pushing me to go are:

• There's no work here for teachers and it could be another 5-10 years before I get a permanent job, if ever.
• I have no home of my own here. I rent.
• I'm terminally single and child-free.
• Friends all married off, so its "mission accomplished" for them and they no longer need a social life.
• I'm not young any more and I need to settle down and make a living somewhere.
• I have lived in Australia before and I loved it.

If anyone has been in a similar position - I would love to hear from you.

So - do I stay or do I go? WWYD?

Going back to RTFT, but I've been teaching in Cairo since September. It's fab. Should have done it years ago!

presumably this is the reason your potential employer needs to import a foreign teacher in the middle of the academic year at such short notice?

It could be for all sorts of reasons.

Doesn't sound like you have a choice op.

Sorry about the sad state of affairs in Ireland.

If parents are healthy and it's only two years then you will have more options and aye some money saved too.

I personally don't like the idea of the ME because of the human rights/women's rights issues many PPs have gone into. But I've never been, so I accept that's a very very limited opinion!

In your case I think I'd say take this new job, stay two years to clock up enough experience for your Aussie visa and then go to Oz.

Hasn't Australia started on a bit of an economic downward turn?

It could indeed be for all kinds of reasons, Sansoora, but my experience of knowing people teaching at Dubai schools suggested that quite often teachers without some other tie to the place didn't stay longterm.

I have a sister in Dubai and have visited it many times. Nowhere on earth is perfect and you have to start your career somewhere. I'd take the job. Have a look at the Expat Woman website which is the local equivalent to Mumsnet. Dubai is safe, comfortable and well-connected, making it easy to travel outside the ME/leave. It's a year or two out of your life; you'll make friends, and you may even like it.

Go to the ME. Do 2 years and save save save and keep your eyes on the prize (Australia).

• The teaching contracts are for two years, dictated by the government, so asking for anything more won't get you anywhere, but you may be offered another two years after that. Loads of teachers here are just like you but there are sometimes 100 applicants for every place. Make your application shine.

• There's no real money in living in the ME anymore, unless it's somewhere nobody wants to live and the UAE is attractive for other reasons. See above for how many applicants per place!

• The human rights issues is NOT simple. I do charity work with construction workers here. Yes, it's horrid, it's inhumane, but for the vast majority a damn lot better than home for them!!!!

People need to read about rural Pakistan before they judge. There, these men cannot hope to put their kids through school. Here, they can do that, even though the wage to us seems like it is a pittance. On a personal level, My gardener is putting two children through school: My maid is saving to open her own business in the Phillipines and also sends a lot of her money home to support six family members. A crane worker a friend of mine talked to through an interpreter was putting his daughter through law school and she wants to be a judge. So many of these men are determined to be the last blue collar workers in their families. So yes, it's heartbreaking to see men toil so hard in the sun but for so many, it is giving them a way out. I can name a large construction company here who also as part of the contract put running water and inside bathrooms in these men's homes for them. That is a HUGE deal. They also go home with some training. Again, a huge deal. So yes, it's horrible and awful and unfair. But see their previous homes like I have first and then decide. It's not simple. It's part of a world wide problem of developing countries.

Also to answer the question about recruiting from abroad half way through the year, it is illegal to poach from another school while that teacher is under the two year contract and so recruiting locally would be pretty hard 🙄

Irish Teacher, I work at an International School in Eastern Europe, and for may reasons, I think this is (highly) preferable to the Middle East. Here's why:

My International School in Eastern Europe offers a better package than those of schools friends worked for in the Middle East. Our apartments are paid for by the school, and so is airfare and global (private) health insurance. I read a lot of nonsense about International Schools in Europe NOT offering good packages, but many do, especially in the East.

Eastern Europe is easily and cheaply accessible to the rest of the Europe. Ryanair and Wizzair and others mean that you can easily get to UK and other European cities for breaks or even weekends, if you wanted.

The people/culture here are foreign, but not alien. Women are respected, and it is safe to walk around in the city and use the metro, even at night. People here are warm and kind, and will happily step in to help if something goes wrong. I've made friends with locals, and I like the city.

I've been able to save more money than I would have saved at home, and I also travel around Europe during breaks.

I like four seasons, and I enjoy the activities that come with each; I would hate to be in a place that was hot all the time. Summers here are hot, but there is a distinct, beautiful autumn, and winter is gorgeous in its snowy way.

Previous posters who have commented on varying quality of International Schools are correct, and you really need to pay up for a subscription of International Schools Review to read the anonymous reviews of a school before going there. There are a lot of very corrupt schools in the ME, and once you give up everything to go out there, you will be in a very bad situation indeed if it doesn't work out.

My school hires mostly people with experience, but we also have some NQTs. If you'd like more information, please feel free to PM me.

Check the accommodation costs, and if they are the included in the package. Accommodation can be eyewateringly expensive. I'm in the big desert attached to UAE, and people say Dubai is expensive. We, I think, get the better package to compensate for the reflectance to come here....

Yes, yes yes to Expat woman. The UAE boards seem to be the busiest.

Is it a true international school? I'd look at the nationality split of the pupils. If from Europe, US, Aus, South Africa, great. If they are ME nationalities, carefully consider how the behaviour and class sizes might affect you.

Try and find an international assessment report (penta do the ones round here for British Schools) and they read like an Ofsted report.

ME is very much dissed on here. Without being here, it is impossible to judge. Yes, there are people who suffer terribly, but a lot of people are exceeding happy to be here for many of the reasons Marmite has mentioned.

Women's rights are changing. And personally I've not experienced anything directed at me. I wouldn't want to live off a Western compound tho. Not sure it is as essential in Dubai, but take local advice on that.

And make sure you leave for the summer break. It's stiflingly hot, and almost unbearable to be out of air-conditioning for more than a few seconds.

You've had a job offer from the place you were looking to go to.

Take it, you'd be daft to turn the opportunity down, if you've done the checks, your friend is there and happy...go!

Good luck

I've spent a bit of time in Dubai over the past 15 years and have a lot of friends there. I am uncomfortable about aspects of life there as articulated by others. However I feel safer walking around Dubai at night on my own than I would in London.

Go for it, but keep your eye on the future.

Good luck.

Thanks everyone for taking the time to help me.

Home now after a day of teaching, following 4 months of being out of work.

i couldn't decide for a while but in the end, i thought: "oh fuck it just go!!"
so, i'm going to Dubai.

i'll probably pm those who offered to pm.

Well done. I'm sure you won't regret it. I think we regret the things we don't do.

Best of luck. I love Dubai.

Great! Good for you! Remember to save money! And DO read your contract very carefully... I know one school offered 3 year contracts knowing no one could hack it that long so they never had to pay out any end of contract gratuities... Be wary.

Enjoy!
Are there summer clothes in the Jan sales? Stock up if so. Hit 30 here yesterday.

Good luck in Dubai! You'll love it. It's a fascinating city and it's really interesting being here right now. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions (currently living just across the border from Dubai in Abu Dhabi), and definitely check out the expat boards. :)

Hi, I'm another living in Dubai, please feel free to pm me, IrishTeacher - and congratulations on your new job Would be interested to know (in private, obviously) which school you will be teaching at.
MarmiteAndButter Love your nickname, though it's missing FreshlyHomemadeBrownBread, and agree with what you say about the situation here not being as clear-cut as some people like to think.
The other thing about Dubai, IrishTeacher, is that it's a lot nearer home in an emergency than is Australia..

Congrats!

Its not perfect here but its a damn site better than sitting in Ireland being unemployed. As you are a teacher you will be able to go back to Ireland every summer and I swear I spend more time with my parents now than I did when I lived in London .

I've found that people here are really friendly and keen to help out newcomers as everyone is in the same boat, that should be a welcome change for you if all your friends are coupled up and not interested in socialising anymore. Just make sure you don't fall into the cycle of brunching every weekend (to be fair I don't know anyone who does this), keep it occasional or for special occasions / when you have visitors. Otherwise you will end up with a pickled liver, light wallet and pilling on the "Dubai stone".

I would also recommend joining some Meet Up groups to meet people - there is a very active meet up scene full of people with lots of energy, you will never have a spare weekend!

As PP have mentioned it is very safe here, we are constantly reminded that it is low crime not no crime but you will find people here who don't lock their front doors and leave the keys in their car while they pop into a convenience store. I feel very safe walking around the streets at all hours.

Also as PP have said get onto expatwoman.com but do ignore the very emotional responses on schools (especially the GEMS schools!).

Have you been told where your accommodation would be OP? I think a few schools have apartments in Sports City.

The living / working conditions of the construction workers is difficult as marmite said. I second what she said about the labourers putting their 4 kids though school, something that would be unachievable if they stayed at home in Pakistan. It is truly very humbling and something that coming from the West we wouldn't even have to fathom. It makes you realise that we don't even know that we are born, and that by simple accident of birth it could have been us that where born into desperate poverty in rural Pakistan.

Hijack: Dumdedumdedum my geography is skewy then. I thought Dubai and Abu Dhabi were both in UAE? What boarder is between the two?

LOL DesertorDessert they are. It's not a literal boarder (like with security guards or anything) but each of the seven Emirates has it's own area, own police forces, slightly different governments, royal families, municipal laws and regulations etc. So when I say I live on the border, I mean I live on the road that marks the difference between the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the Emirate of Dubai.

OK, so a bit like a really well marked county boundary in the UK?
Hence UAE, united the 7 Emirates. Thank-you, I've learnt something this morning.