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New Dubai schools can’t poach teachers: KHDA

New schools in Dubai are being asked not to recruit teachers from older schools in Dubai in an attempt to reduce teacher turnover rates. The chief of Dubai’s Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) called on new schools to avoid ‘poaching’ staff from older private schools in Dubai.

“When a new school opens, it has to enrich the education system in Dubai. There is no question of poaching teachers from the system. We are very aware of this issue because it is directly linked to the fee structure of a new school,” said Dr Abdulla Al Karam, Director-General of the KHDA.

Khaleej Times had earlier reported how new schools in Dubai were allowed to set fees based on their ‘business model’.

While these schools cannot increase fees for the first three years, the cap on hiring teachers is aimed at protecting existing schools from losing good
teachers.

“If an individual teacher leaves a school, it is understandable. But if there are five to 10 teachers leaving to join a newer school, then the school can report the incident and KHDA will take necessary action,” said Dr Abdulla.

Newer schools in Dubai can afford to hire teachers at better salaries, but the move by the KHDA is expected to protect ‘low-cost’ schools from losing teachers and increase the number of teachers coming from abroad.

The regulatory authority maintains a record of all teachers employed by private schools and keeps a tab on the recruitment of teachers.

Dinesh Kothari, pro vice-chairman of Delhi Private School said the availability of teachers was not a major issue in the UAE. “We receive a lot of applications from teachers who are based in the UAE and there is a good pool of teaching talent. Also, getting staff from overseas involves a lot of logistics and it is much easier to work with teachers who can be recruited locally,” he said.

The group started hiring new teachers in August 2012 for its new school (Union Indian International School) which opens in April this year.

He also cited concerns with the cap on hiring teachers as he said: “Any teacher who has completed her employment contract with the existing employer should be allowed to move to a newer school. There should be no restriction on the career opportunities for a teacher.”

Most teachers working in Dubai’s private schools are bound by a contract and they cannot usually leave during the academic year.

muaz@khaleejtimes.com