Category: UAE

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Update: New Pay Structure Upsets Some Emirati Teachers

On February 11, I posted on my blog the story reported by The National concerning Emirati teachers upset over the new ADEC pay structure. In my comments, I asked whether the new system could hurt retention of Emirati teachers and hoped a more public explanation of the pay structure would ease concerns.

Shireena Al Nowais of The National on February 17th, has posted an update to her story Emirati teachers threaten to resign over new pay scale.

In her story she states the “education chiefs have moved to reassure teachers in Abu Dhabi over their new pay structure.”
In fact, while no pay increase had been planned, teachers will find that the flexible new salary structure brings substantial pay rises based on their performance, said Dr Mugheer Al Khaili, director general of Adec, the Abu Dhabi Education Council. Under the previous more rigid system, salary increases came only with promotion to principal or vice principal.

“What we have done is something completely new,” said Dr Al Khaili. “We devised a new system where there is a grade for every position, but every position has 10 steps.

The question is; Will the more fully explained new compensation system satisfy teachers or is it not be enough to retain Emirati teachers who threaten to resign.

To read the entire article click  Adec say salaries were not increased, but pay scale changed

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GCC report fuels fears of rising inflation in UAE

I read an article this morning  in the National by Tom Arnold which reports on families paying more in the UAE than in any of the Arabian Gulf states for a British or Indian education, petrol and household utilities. The figures are from the Cost of Living GCC Report.

Key points concerning education costs are:

  • The cost of living report found the average cost of a British curriculum education was Dh50,675 compared with Dh13,751 in Bahrain, the lowest in the GCC.
  • The average Indian education cost Dh22,000, more than twice as high as Qatar in second place with Dh10,400.

The story goes further into detail about housing costs and other factors which will challenge HR Departments in bringing and retaining quality educators. As I stated in my December 30, 2013 piece on “Recruiting and Retaining Educators” the cost of living is starting to have an adverse effect on the education sector.

For the complete article on The National go to: http://shar.es/9FR2v