Will pay hike freeze impact teacher recruitment in UAE?

Dubai - Salary hike freezes are always tough to swallow.

In the last four years, schools in Dubai have marked a significant year-on-year increase in revenues, from Dh4.7 billion (in 2013-14) to Dh7.5 billion (in 2017-2018), according to the latest report by the KHDA looking at Dubai's 'Private Education Landscape'.
As such, and to ease the financial burden on parents, a new directive from the Dubai Executive Council (announced in early June), stated there will be no increase in school fees for 2018-19 academic year.
Following this announcement, GEMS Education, one of the largest schooling organisations in the country, announced that it would be putting a freeze on teacher salary hikes for the same year, citing it as "not an unusual measure to take in uncertain times".
It also stated it invested "significantly in teacher salaries and benefits" over the past five years. "The cumulative salary increase was 25-48 per cent when the Education Cost Index only increased by approximately 11 per cent."
Speaking to Khaleej Times about how this will impact teacher recruitment in the UAE, Shaun Robison, Chief Executive of BBD Education said it could put some teachers off working here, but he emphasised that both freezes are "temporary".
"I don't think the UAE has an issue with bringing in teachers here; teachers in the UAE are generally a mobile bunch anyway, as most have left their home countries to work here. Salary hike freezes are always tough to swallow and it may result in some teachers looking elsewhere. If a teacher's cost of living has increased and their salary hasn't, it's fairly easy to predict what will happen next."
But he said a decision to move on isn't usually based on just one sole factor. "It's certainly possible some teachers might want to move on. I think teacher retention is also linked to the cost of living (food, fuel, electricity, housing), and general happiness, and they all contribute to a teacher's decision to leave. Salary stagnation will not be the single defining reason, but it may be a contributing factor along with other issues."
Following the latest reforms in the UAE education sector, Garrett O'Dowd, founder of Teach and Explore educational recruitment agency said other regions are now being touted as more attractive for teachers. "The fact that some salaries are being frozen or even reduced here means that other regions have been able to catch up with the UAE. Asia, South East Asia and even mainland Europe, are now offering quite a competitive salary as the cost of living in many of these countries is cheaper than in the UAE. That is proving to be of great interest for teachers."
If salaries stagnate and the cost of living keeps rising here, it is inevitable that teachers will move on, he said.
Speaking to Khaleej Times following the GEMS  announcement, Clive Pierrepont, director of Communications at Taaleem said it will not be following suit when it comes to halting salary hikes. "Despite the tuition fee freeze in Dubai, we believe it is vital that we continue to value and invest in our loyal staff, who receive annual performance and pay reviews, continuing professional development, wellbeing and welfare support. Our expansion and development plans also remain unchanged and any necessary savings that need to be made due to the fee freeze announcement, will be made through renegotiating contracts with suppliers and increasing the efficiency of our day to day operations."
As far as salary increment policies go, he said Taaleem has "uniform pay scales across the group", with annual increments that recognise length of service and they consistently reward the contribution made by individuals towards their school's success.
And Ashok Kumar, CEO of Indian High School (IHS), echoed these sentiments regarding refusal to freeze teacher salary hikes. "As per IHS HR policy, we give increments to all teachers upon completion of two years, irrespective of the fee increase. We do not have a freeze on salary hikes this year. When it comes to grading increments of teachers, it is based on performance."
kelly@khaleejtimes.com