[quote="davey"][quote="skazzyskills"]we had an interview with this school and it went very well, to the point where they told us we would be a perfect fit to the school, then they emailed us the package. [/quote]

Huh. Who were you communicating with? (If you don't mind me asking.) Maybe it was a different level. In email, I explicitly mentioned my concerns with security. In his words: "bad things happen here" - that's pretty blunt in my mind. How specific did you get with your security questions? I mentioned that I'd read the State Department Travel information and asked for his perspective...did you ask about specific incidents?

Also, if you don't mind me asking: package - good, okay, not so good?[/quote]

It was 2 years ago now so I can't remember who I spoke with, but there were 4 of them I think via Skype. I'm sure the director was there, but not sure who else was off the top of my head.

Package was nyuh..OK..nothing too great; I don't remember being overly blown away by it, but I'm sure it's changed a bit now? We didn't ask for anything specific, just during the interview we did ask if anything has happened to teachers there?..that's when they told us about the hold up. This prompted our security questions via email the next day, just questions about going out, are there really restricted areas, etc. NORMAL security questions that anyone should ask when going to a place like Guat.

we had an interview with this school and it went very well, to the point where they told us we would be a perfect fit to the school, then they emailed us the package. we then replied with questions we had, some about security issues (we're a family of 4). i got the feeling they didn't like too many questions about security, as the next day they basically rescinded the 'offer' and said we weren't the right 'fit' for the school; go figure.

ask them about the teacher 2 years ago that got held up at gunpoint. she obviously freaked out and broke contract and left. I'm guessing they didn't want any 'easily frightened' teachers coming.

just something to keep in mind. guatemala is not like other SA countries..research carefully.

Thanks for your input all! I hope there's a few more people who can chime in.

Cheers

That might be different b/c your in a BC school.

Android, I'm not really sure I understand your statement..it seems to contradict?

Anyway, I've asked a lot of the teachers at my school here and all of them said they don't pay dues to the membership back in Canada; and why would they pay for something that they aren't benefiting from? This makes sense to me. Other teachers (not from Canada) laughed at the notion that your teaching certificate can 'expire'. You went to school; you earned it. It's a certificate that says you're qualified to teach.

What's the difference between a piece of paper whose membership is paid up yearly, vs someone's whose isn't? I certainly don't see a difference. They can't 'take away' your licence (unless of course you do something really stupid that warrants a licence suspension).

After contacting the ministry of education in BC they told me that any foreign school just wants to know if you ever had your licence canceled or withdrawn due to disciplinary reasons and that they shouldn't care if it's currently 'active' or not. Regardless, we'll reapply anyway, just to be safe.

Just for others who were interested to know.

I'm wondering if people have any insight into life in Oman. I've heard good things about Oman and we were looking at ABA. Some questions I have:

We're a family of 4, I've heard it's a good place for families. Do others have any perspective on this?

What is housing like? I've heard there are no compounds so housing is a BIG question for us (especially being family of 4 with 4 month old)

Can you get everything you need there (as far as shopping goes, electronics, food, restaurant variety: ie. sushi, asian cuisine, western..)

What are people's experience with internet speeds?

What about cell phone coverage? Is there 3G network there? Would I be able to use my iPhone?

With regards to ABA, does anybody know salary ranges? There's nothing on the review about salary (actually, I find people haven't put anything in this category in a lot of the school reviews). I wish reviews would be more specific with the numbers (ie. shipping allowance, housing etc.). This would be especially helpful.

Any input is appreciated!

Thanks!

Even if you've been teaching actively?

My wife and I are Canadians living and teaching abroad; we're from BC (our teaching certificates are from there). The thing is, we've been teaching overseas for the last 8 years and stopped paying our teaching certification dues a long time ago; our thinking was that it wasn't necessary or needed. The schools we've worked for are all proper international schools around the globe and we've never had a need to prove we have an active certificate. However, I just read a post here saying something about BC has changed its policy on certification payments and when I got to reading, I starting thinking...are we suppose to have an ACTIVE and registered and up to date paid teaching certificate linked to back home? I just thought, we've got a certificate from before back home, we've been teaching overseas and keeping up with our profession, why would we need to keep registering back home?

So now, in the midst of applying to new schools, I'm worried that we ARE suppose to be continually certified back home and that if a school goes to check and finds us without a paid-up certificate, they won't hire us...is this the case or am I freaking out for no reason? If we do need an active certificate, we'll have to completely re-apply..I hope this isn't the case.

I'm currently in Germany and looking at making the move to Oman, or the ME in general and I'm wondering about internet..how fast can you get? Is it restricted? I do a lot of bit torrent downloading and I'm wondering if this is possible or government firewall this stuff there...

Also, how much does it cost?

While we're on the topic..is there 3G network there on cell phones? ie. can I use my iPhone properly? Is it expensive?

wow..the American School of Dubai is the only school I've ever come across that doesn't have any email listed on their site! that's crazy! I know they are trying to only hire at the fairs (which I'm not attending) but, come on...no way to contact the director, or even HR?....odd...

Thanks for that...What have you heard from ABA in Muskat? Just out of curiosity...

In your opinion, which country pays the best, or are they relatively the same and just depends on the school?

What are peoples' opinion of the top places in the Middle East. We're a family of four, teaching couple, with 5 years experience in international schools around the globe.

I've read through this forum and I've seen that Oman gets a lot of thumbs up..but any others? If people know of the top schools in these countries too, that'd be great!

A good package is definitely top priority. ;-)