FNC concern over expats grabbing teaching jobs

Abu Dhabi - Al Sharhan said that hiring Emirati teachers can provide what foreign teachers cannot offer.

Hiring expat teachers and leaving qualified Emiratis jobless is not helping students improve academically as Emirati children are failing in whopping numbers, the Federal National Council (FNC) heard on Wednesday.
On Wednesday at the FNC headquarters, the FNC members had a heated debate with the Minister of State for Public Education on unemployment rate among Emirati teachers.
"Why are so many foreign teachers being hired in public schools? How can they instil the same morals and values in our children and why are they believed to be better than Emirati teachers, who are now sitting at home because their jobs have been taken," asked FNC member Naama Al Sharhan.
Al Sharhan said that hiring Emirati teachers can provide what foreign teachers cannot offer - which are Emirati values - while expressing her surprise at the Ministry of Education's tendency to appoint expats.
Statistics presented at the FNC revealed that the ministry hired 3,430 foreign teachers over the past year and a half, including 1,500 Westerners. However, no statistics were revealed on how many Emirati teachers were hired.
"This means that 3,430 Emiratis were left jobless," said Al Sharhan.
The FNC member pointed out that the ministry must start focusing on hiring more Emirati teachers, adding that she hopes the number of foreign teachers will drop. "The UAE national is a red line, we cannot put him on the side and bring a foreigner in his place.
"We do want a better education and we do want our children to be fluent in English, but we are not seeing satisfying results in their grades."
Jameela bint Salem Al Muhairi, Minister of State for Public Education, said the reason for the ministry's decision in hiring foreign teachers, despite the high numbers of qualified Emiratis who are yet to be employed, are due to the "certain international standards" that are set.
"English language is an imperative element in our education system, so it's important for our students to learn it.
"We have certain international standards to teach and there are a number of new subjects added to the new curriculum that not many Emiratis are applied to teach."
However, the FNC member argued that there are plenty of Emirati teachers who are qualified, are fluent in English and in Arabic, and are capable of meeting the standards the ministry has set in place. "But we already have Emirati teachers who can do all of this and are already qualified, yet their jobs were given to someone else," she said.
Concern over numbers of failing students
Despite the ministry focusing on hiring foreign teachers, students are still failing in whopping numbers, argued the FNC members.
"We have found that in some schools, barely any students have passed. They are failing in unbelievable numbers, and parents across the nation are concerned," said FNC member Salem Al Shehhi.
"You have hired all these Western teachers, claiming they might do a better job. But why are our children still failing," he asked the minister.
The minister said that the ministry aims to keep up with the international standards of education."We seek to translate this reality through continuous efforts to improve educational outcomes and to enrol students in universities, without having to do a foundation year, which many students had to go through."
She added that the weak results of students' grades in the first semester are "normal" and occur in many countries around the world.
The minister said the ministry has a strategy in place to improve the quality of education, although she did not reveal details of the strategy.
"With our short-term strategy, we will reach a breakthrough in education, and we will be among the top 20 countries worldwide."
jasmine@khaleejtimes.com

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