They do reject some people. Usually those people have more than 2 dependents or less than 2 years experience. Have you emailed your rep? They've always responded pretty quickly for me.

PsyGuy wrote:

> @sitka
>
> You source is bile. Its nothing more than advertising and marketing dressed
> up to look like research or journalism.
>
> First, no one knows how many ISs there are, as a profession we cant even
> agree on the definition of an IS. At best your source counted how many ISs
> were represented at a fair. This means nothing.
>
> Second, there are more than to 417 ISs in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou
> alone, and thats not counting HK. There are 90 IB ISs in China and another
> 55 in HK, for 145 IB ISs alone, the UAE in comparison has 36. There are
> more IB ISs in HK (an island) then there are in the UAE. Thats just IB
> programs, and doesnt even touch the American, British and Euro ISs, or the
> hybrid local curriculum ISs.
>
> Third, There are more than 200 ISs in the Tokyo Metropolis. MEXT recently
> just authorized 200 new independent IB programs and I can find 400 ISs in
> LOS and probably BKK.
>
> Fourth, ICEF (your source) is a recruiting agency for ME language and
> bilingual schools. They are a trade group with their own marketing agenda.
> There is nothing credible about their publications that is any different
> then any of the recruiting agencies youd find on Daves, etc.
>
> Fifth, we have differing definitions of "obvious".

Ok. From the TIE Newspaper:

“There are now 22 countries in the world with over 100 English-medium international schools… The UAE leads the world with 507 international schools teaching over 455,000 students; 245 schools in the UAE are located in Dubai alone… China has 480 international schools.”

And while I can bet you won't accept this source either, I've taught in both countries and it doesn't seem far-fetched to me.

If your argument is that China has more schools running a foreign curriculum - IB, IGCSE, CC, or Canadian - then I will concede the point. The IBO shows 67 private, English-language schools in China and only 35 in the UAE. If you look at ICGSE-curriculum schools, there are 120 in China and only 66 in the UAE. There are also 159 IB schools in the USA - but nobody is arguing that the United States has more international schools than China because the vast majority of the students at these American schools are American. The vast majority of IB schools in China cater almost exclusively to Chinese students, making them (in my opinion), not international schools.

Since you've made IB the measuring stick of international schools, let's look at little closer at the May 2014 Statistical Bulletin. 2,912 students wrote the DP exams in China, while only 1,066 did in the UAE. More students are writing the IB exams in China. But most of those students are Chinese - 2,677 Chinese nationals wrote the IB-exams. Only 65 Emiratis did. Meaning that over 90 percent of students writing the diploma exams were international students in the UAE - in China, I would estimate that only a third were (and that is being generous).

And while China seems so much bigger, in terms of expat demographics it isn't. China has roughly 1,000,000 expats. Of that million, 40% are from Taiwan/Macau/Hongkong. The UAE has about 8 million, with about 500,000 being "western" and probably another 500,000 being high-wage earners from other countries. Meaning there is a roughly equivalent population of expats for international schools to draw from. For reference's sake, the 2011 census shows approximately 55,000 "white" residents in Hong Kong.

TLDR; China has more schools running foreign-curricula consisting of national students; they probably have a roughly equivalent number of schools catering towards international students.

@sitka

The UAE is not the second largest region for IT vacancies.

@Psyguy

From the International Consultant for Education and Fairs

"Nearly 30% of all international schools today are bilingual with English as the primary language of learning usually combined with the local language. This represents an increasingly popular overarching international school ethos that blends local culture and language with an English-medium global learning approach.

Recent market growth has, in the large part, been focused in Asia; 21 countries now have over 100 international schools, 11 of which are in Asia (ISC includes the Middle East in Western Asia). The lead country continues to be the United Arab Emirates with 428 international schools followed closely by China which now has 417 schools. Pakistan and India both have over 350 schools and Japan has more than 200. Other countries with over 100 international schools are Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Egypt, and Nigeria."

UAE and China seem to be the obvious number 1 and number 2 in terms of quantity (although obviously not quality) of schools.

In my opinion, you should widen your net:

1) You are shooting yourself in the foot by excluding both the UAE and China when searching for your first posting. These two countries have the most international schools. This makes them comparatively easier to get your foot in the door.

2) Especially for your first posting, you will enjoy it no matter where you are simply because of the novelty. When the novelty of being abroad has worn off, you are forced to be choosier. I probably would have enjoyed Kazakhstan if it was my first posting, but I don't think I would enjoy it nearly as much now.

3) At this point, it is more important for you to build up your resume than it is to find that ticket to paradise. If I were you, my number one criteria for trying to find a school would be getting a PYP classroom. This would trump location, because it is significantly easier to move upwards than it is to get started.

Hope that helps.

I use SA.

The good: Access to the two premier fairs (Bangkok and London). Access to a "better" (YMMV) class of schools. More information about job postings (especially salary). An agent to help you through the process (although they range from useless to excellent). More "serious" (schools treat you more seriously - joining SA, because of the fee, shows some level of commitment). Easy access to references for schools - and you when you move on.

The bad: The fee. The commitment (breaking a contract will potentially get you blacklisted/cost you money). They might not take a chance on you (little experience/many dependents).

I also use TIE.

The good: Lots of postings. Cheap ($40 dollars a year).

The bad: Lots of "lower" quality schools.

I haven't used ISS, but it seems roughly the equivalent with SA. I've never used CIS, Teachaway, Joyjobs, or Teacher Horizons. Some people seem to be successful with them, but they seem a little bit lower quality to me.

Hope that helps.

Here is my personal experience from the UAE:

Getting approved for a car loan was not difficult once you are officially a resident (which is little comfort for those stuck working on a tourist visa for a significant period of time). All it took was a salary certificate from my company, a copy of my passport, visa, and residence ID. The car needed to be evaluated by an official evaluator (mine seemed less than competent).

In the UAE, there is a gratuity paid for each year that you work (21 days salary for the first five years - more after that). That gratuity is held as collateral against your loans - you can't access it until you cancel your residence visa, and you can't cancel your residence visa until your loans are paid off. So if you skip out on your loan, they will at the very least be able to recover your gratuity.

Cheers

Every school I've taught at has given pay slips.

desert123 wrote:
> Hello, Can anyone give salary info for teachers working at GEMS schools?
> Are annual flights and accommodation also provided?
> What is a sensible monthly outgoings for a couple. (I know people will say
> it can be as expensive as you want, I talking about weekly grocery shop,
> bills, going out once a week or so to a mid priced restaurant and trying to
> save as much as possible. How much have teachers managed to save?

I'm in Abu Dhabi, but prices are pretty comparable except for the price of housing. One USD is pegged to 3.67 AED.

My wife and I spend approximately 500 AED a week on groceries.
If you want to eat out, a cheap ME or Indian restaurant will run about 30-40 AED for two people. A low-end sit-down restaurant (think TGIF) will be about 100 AED for a couple.
Gas is about 1.3 AED a litre. We bought a 2009 SUV for 30,000 AED. Insurance for the year is about 800 AED.
Nice restaurants at hotels/brunches (all you can drink) are about 300 AED a person. Most people buy a copy of the Entertainer for about 400 AED - it has hundreds of 2 for 1 coupons for all kinds of places (low-mid-high restaurants, and all the one-off activities you'll probably do).
Return tickets to neighboring countries all seem to run about 1000 AED if you buy a month or two beforehand (Jordan/Turkey/Egypt/India/Sri Lanka/Nepal).
Internet/cable (which are bundled) cost us 300 AED a month, and together our cellphones are about 200 AED.

If going out is your thing, clubs and alcohol at restaurants/bars is expensive. I can't think of many places where a beer is less than 30 AED, although it is priced much cheaper at beer stores.

We live pretty comfortably on a salary of 14,000 AED (with provided housing), banking about a third of it and my wife's salary. We are a little bit of homebody's though.

Hope that helps.

It can really be a great way to provide authentic learning experiences for students.

If students are coming up with a hypothesis, designing an experiment to test it, executing it, and proving/refuting their hypothesis AND the students are genuinely interested in the topic - this is good.

However, I have seen plenty of less-than-motivated teachers simply say: research this on the internet. It can be an easy excuse for lazy teaching.

Questions I would ask myself before moving to the GCC:

1) Am I single? Married couples tend to enjoy life here more (exception is probably Dubai).

2) Do I like to ./drink? Drinking is either banned (Kuwait/KSA) or expensive (UAE/Qatar/Oman/Bahrain). If you like to ., it will be either boring or expensive.

3) Do I like the heat? It will get hot.

4) Will my students be predominantly locals or international? There will be a huge difference.

5) Am I a confident driver? Driving here can get a little crazy, but life without a car will be incredibly inconvenient.

My quality of life index within the Gulf goes like this:

UAE/Oman
Bahrain
KSA/Kuwait

It can be amazing when it is well done, but if poorly executed it is about as bad as it gets.

The trial tells us a hell of a lot more about the judicial system in Indonesia than it does about the guilt or innocence of Bantlemann.

The guy was railroaded in a kangaroo court.

I"m in AD. Feel free to message me with any questions.

I was at the same school you are.

I joined after three years with no problems and moved on to an IB school (for what it's worth).

You'd want to have all your references and everything else good to go by October.

Cheers

You'd want to consider two things: the school and the location.

School

Is the school primarily international students, or primarily domestic? If it is primarily international students, odds are good that will be (relatively) well-run. If it caters primarily to Egyptian students, it needs to help your resume so you can step up at your next posting. This depends a lot on your existing resume (what do you need to make you more competitive - IB experience? Any experience?).

Location

I fully believe you can make (almost) anywhere work for you (depending on your goals), but some places make it much easier than others. Are you comfortable driving in Egypt? Cairo falls on the crazier end of the spectrum in terms of traffic. The heat in the ME can make public transport almost unbearable at times (especially in the more rustic locations). Is English widely spoken (or how dedicated are you to learning Arabic?). While it is pretty common in Cairo, it isn't ubiquitous like it is in the UAE. What is the housing like? I can be pretty happy anywhere where I have a pool and a gym, but without amenities life can get pretty tough and isolating. Are you married? If not, how big is your school (will there be lots of other teachers to meet)? Are you a history nerd, or will the cultural benefits wear off after a few weeks.

These are the kinds of things I would weigh. I know people who have liked it there, and those who have absolutely hated it. You need to assess yourself as much as the place.