UAE jobs: Vacancies for teachers with 'post-Covid' skills

The recruitment market for teachers once again looks buoyant with the arrival of many new schools in the UAE, but employers are looking to hire teachers with knowledge of modern teaching styles.

The traditional approach of advertising and referrals for hiring teachers and associated roles is still common practice for most educational institutions but the challenge is filling the spot with teachers who are rapid learners themselves.

Deepa Sud, CEO at Plum Jobs says, “With many transient and overseas applicants available, there is no shortage of candidates but the challenge is ensuring the right candidate is hired, however urgent the need to fill the vacancy is.

Also read:

• UAE: First full 100% learning in campuses as education returns to pre-pandemic levels

• New UAE weekend: Dubai schools must close before 12pm on Fridays

"With a shortage of top-quality UAE experienced teachers and career development opportunities we are working with our education clients to adopt a more proactive talent management strategy. This involves a significant gear shift to talent pipeline planning, a more in-depth shortlisting and recruitment process and developing their employees to improve retention. The need of the hour is educators with modern teaching styles that can enable students to adopt a more hybrid approach to learning and this requires more interpersonal skills that are very different to simply delivering the content.”

While the region promises to be a competitive marketplace, recruiters opine teachers these days “have to have that growth mindset.”

The Covid-19 pandemic requires teachers to rethink the way they do their jobs.

Director at Marc Ellis, Aws Ismail says, “We have noticed that one of the most sought-after skills was ability to engage students in learning, especially with post-Covid having in class and online learning, teachers need to able to adapt their teaching skills to be able to pass on their knowledge to their students. A lot of schools and universities have requested for teachers with good technology knowledge and experience. Teachers must be able to use technology within their teaching and therefore this has become an extremely important skill to have.

He adds, “Looking at the recruitment market for 2022…teachers are going to be in demand across different fields especially in key focus areas for the UAE, including Technology, Artificial Intelligence, Biomedical/Science and so on. However, competition will be very high considering the number of teachers who are looking to relocate to the UAE based on the benefits and lifestyle the country has to offer”.

21 schools have opened in Dubai in the past three years and there are myriad roles being publicized both for private and public institutions across the country.

Sangita Chima, Amity School Dubai Principal avers, “Education in the UAE has matured and it is as vibrant as ever. Students gain exposure at a young age and have access to a variety of opportunities that will mold them into smart and mature individuals. We are seeing an increase in the number of families that choose to make the UAE home. With more students enrolling in schools, the need for teaching and education staff has definitely increased.”

But with time, recruitments for teaching candidates have become more robust, where employees look over and beyond tried-and-true skills.

Abigail Fishbourne, School Improvement Partner, International Schools Partnership (ISP) says, “We work together closely to appoint the best teachers from around the world. Our extensive recruitment process that uses web pages, agencies and world-of-mouth, ensures we have a large talent pool of teachers with outstanding practice, breadth of experience and international pedagogy.

Fishbourne adds, “As part of a rigorous selection process, we conduct face-to-face and virtual interviews and presentations and of course, all our appointments go through a detailed referencing and safeguarding process.”

• UAE