Teaching abroad, potentially Dubai

[Plantsandwine]

My husband and I are both teachers in England. We have a 7 month old a nearly 2 year old. We have a mortgage, cars etc so lots to consider if we move abroad. We are considering teaching in an international school in Dubai. We would rent out our house whilst living abroad to hopefully cover our mortgage. We would essentially be going for about 2 years to experience a different country and to save money. Does anyone have any experience of living in Dubai, particularly with children? Any comments, good or bad would be welcome. Or would anyone suggest a different country that offers a good salary with good packages? Thank you for any help.

I’m supposed that teachers (I am one) with two small children would be looking for this as an opportunity to save money. Are teacher wages really high the ME and cost of living/childcare really low?

@Howshouldibehave

I’m supposed that teachers (I am one) with two small children would be looking for this as an opportunity to save money. Are teacher wages really high the ME and cost of living/childcare really low?

It is not really to just save money (although definitely part of it). We want to teach abroad before our children go to secondary school. I moved around a lot when younger and hated changing secondary school and leaving all of my friends, so ideally I would want to be back in England by the time the eldest is around 10.

Dubai: you’re living off the blood of slaves. It’s horrible.

Look into the human rights abuses before moving there.

In schools you have to censor books, not teach certain things (eg Jewish Holocaust) or mention certain things. Rich kids with influential parents are given better grades.

Took until page 2 :)

My BIL and his wife teach in Shanghai. They have an Ayah (no idea of spelling!) for third toddler and she will look after the baby that's due soon too. His wife is having to work until her due date and will take unpaid leave to extend her maternity until late Autumn... Otherwise she would only get 6weeks They have a pretty nice life overall. But they haven't been 'home' since July 2019. They hope to be able to travel next year.

@Normaigai I wish I’d known those things before going to teach in Dubai. I saw some horrendous stuff and I feel I bought into all that by being there on the payroll.

Hi OP. I'm in Egypt.

I manage quite nicely financially - & that's as a single parent to three teenagers. There's lots to do, the lifestyle is great, & it's relatively short haul.

Obviously I'm currently stranded here for the second summer running - cheers Boris et al - but overall, we love it.

When looking at salary and benefits you need to factor in that there may be no pension scheme.
You can make voluntary national insurance contributions - worth checking number of qualifying years before you leave.

Air quality in China was seriously bad when I lived in Beijing 10 years ago.
Visit first.

I have lived in Saudi, Dubai and Qatar. Hated Dubai, full of dolly housewives. Loved Qatar the best, it's a brilliant place to live, the Qataris are lovely.

I highly recommend looking at Bahrain. We've been here teaching for 12 years (have also lived in the UAE) and there's a good balance between saving money, lower cost of living and 'village' life as it's so small. It has a real sense of community.

Schools to consider are St. Christopher's & BSB.

I know people who are happy teaching in Brunei, at Jerudong IS. Don’t know much about it myself, but they are raising kids there and seem to have a good (not flashy) lifestyle.

I realise this thread is a little old but would echo what a previous poster said about considering SE Asia. I'm in Thailand and the savings potential here is greater than UAE due to lower cost of living (including childcare). Two school places are standard, whereas sometimes in the UAE you have to contribute towards these. Salary is taxed but 2 teachers in a mid or top tier school do well enough. And life is EASY! Thai people love children. Great travel opportunities locally and around Asia (in non-Covid times). Accommodation is not as cheap as it used to be but many schools contribute to this. The only downside is air pollution, which can get bad for a few months each year.

I know I'm a little late, but you just wrote a whole lot of nonsense!! Since when did it cost 10k to move to Dubai? I took no more than 2k, with a son. I was good! Stop scaring people, it's annoying