# English Teaching Job with MOE (Northern Emirates)?



## Fleur_Rouge

Hello all:

My first time here, thank you in advance for your help. And sorry if this is repeating a question found elsewhere -- I searched the forum but couldn't find anything on the topic?

I have been offered an interview with the Ministry of Education to teach English in "the northern Emirates," starting from August 2016. My information about this is limited; I've been told that "... the Ministry of Education is looking to appoint experienced ESL / English Teachers to start in August 2016. As part of the Abu Dhabi’s Education reforms, they are looking to recruit experienced English teachers to raise the standards of English Language teaching in the Ministry of Education’s schools throughout the Northern Emirates. You will be expected to teach English to Emirati students in Grades 8 to 12."

I have to decide whether to fly to the UAE for an interview in late May. (I'm currently in Thailand, so the UAE is closer than any English-speaking country.) That would represent a significant investment of money, and also an opportunity cost for other offers. Basically my two questions are:

a.) Can anyone point me to where I might find more information on this program? It's very hard to find info on the Web. The only link I have is the general one for the Ministry of Education, which is not very helpful. 

Some things I've read online suggest that this program may have been called ADVETI in a previous incarnation, but the alphabet soup is a bit confusing and I'm not sure if that's the case -- or, if not, if this program is brand new.

b.) Can anyone help me evaluate whether the compensation package is actually a good deal? The information I have says:
"Package details
• Excellent Tax Free salary package 21,000 AED per month
= 8,340 AUD NET per month
• Medical Insurance
• Annual Gratuity
• Career opportunities
• Plus other benefits as per Government policies"

Now, from my point of view 21,000 AED / ~ $5,700 USD per month, especially if tax-free, is a very good salary, and worth pursuing. My goal is to pay off my debts and save money; I am pretty good at living frugally, and my needs are pretty simple. (I'm single and will be living alone.)

However, this package notably does not seem to include accommodation or a housing allowance. I've had a hard time finding cost-of-living numbers for the northern Emirates, but when I look at Abu Dhabi numbers, I'm shocked -- it seems as if housing could easily eat up half of that salary. I'm also reading that foreigners who want to rent a flat need to put up the entire rent at the beginning of the year, which is something that would honestly be beyond my resources. I'm wondering if anyone can give me any perspective: Would I actually be able to live decently and save money on this salary, somewhere in the unspecified "northern Emirates," given that it doesn't include accommodation? Or is this actually a worse deal than it looks?

Thank you for your help!

(BTW, about me: I am an American in TEFL teaching, with a BA in English, a CELTA, a Master's in a humanities field, and 6+ years of classroom teaching experience. But I don't have a national teaching license or a TESOL degree. Well-paid English-teaching jobs in the Emirates are very competitive, so this one seems appealing -- but I wonder if there are things that are being glossed over in the description.)


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## Racing_Goats

ADVETI is Abu Dhabi vocational education training institute, mostly they deal with further and higher education for students not going to university, however they also run IAT schools (institute applied technology) and have won some kind of contract to manage those schools outside of Abu Dhabi emirate as well - IAT has a big recruitment drive for ESL/EMT teachers just now including in Northern Emirates..

Salaries and benefits are mostly going down rather than up and 20k+ salary would've been for a promoted/leadership post - most likely the 21k you mention is salary 11-14k plus housing 7-9k (depending on status). I'm not sure if adveti will give a cash allowance for you sort out rental
or provide a place, in case you have to rent yourself they will normally front up the yearly rent.

Teaching local teenagers is generally considered challenging but that's a big generalisation - your students and your approach and personality will determine how it goes I guess 

Anyway I could be wrong but that's my understanding from friends, my wife's research for the same positions, and reading/following the forum. Good luck


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## Fleur_Rouge

Thank you!!

I'd be very grateful for any further information anyone might have. Including, actually, what life is generally _like_ in the Northern Emirates. In contrast to my last teaching job -- in Japan -- it seems very, very hard to find much information online from English teachers who have been there.


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## Stevesolar

Fleur_Rouge said:


> Thank you!!
> 
> I'd be very grateful for any further information anyone might have. Including, actually, what life is generally _like_ in the Northern Emirates. In contrast to my last teaching job -- in Japan -- it seems very, very hard to find much information online from English teachers who have been there.


Very quiet - compared with Dubai and not as shiny.


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## kiwiteacher1

Hi Fleur_Rouge

Just found you on two separate forums. Fist time I have ever sent a message on this type of thing as well.

I am from New Zealand. I am considering taking a position with the MOE in the UAE just like you. 

Our interviews will take place in a couple of weeks in Australia. Have you had your interview yet? 

I am also trying to find out as much information as possible about how good the package we have been offered is, the living and renting costs.

I have been looking on this site - dubizzle.com. It seems there are a lot of people looking for flatmates and the rent they are asking is very cheap compared to what I have seen other people saying the costs are. That would also take care of the need to purchase appliances and that. 

Hope you see this. Would be nice to stay in contact with someone else going through the same thing. Even more so considering we are "not competing against other teachers for the position", as stated by the lady I have been corresponding with.


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## Racing_Goats

Sharing apartments is generally illegal except for family members, and some of the 'bedspace' setups are awful. There's a reason some are very cheap.


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## kiwiteacher1

Just read about attending the interivew in the MOE. Have you decided if you will attend or not yet?


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## kiwiteacher1

Racing_Goats said:


> Sharing apartments is generally illegal except for family members, and some of the 'bedspace' setups are awful. There's a reason some are very cheap.


Ah really?

Had no idea that it was illegal. Just started looking into it.

Do you know if it is one of those things that is illegal but is still frequently done by many expats?

Do you live in the UAE?

Thanks for your info!


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## Racing_Goats

It's more common to flatshare in Dubai, pretty rare in abu Dhabi by comparison. More importantly for you though you may need to produce a tenancy agreement in order to receive any housing allowance, or in some cases accommodation might be allocated from an employers housing stock.


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## Fleur_Rouge

Hello! I understand how you feel. 

I don't think I'm going to be very useful on this going forward, because I've pretty much decided not to pursue this any further. The combination of uncertainty about the financial situation + the general disorder of the interview scheduling process -- plus that I'm not hugely keen on high-school teaching in the first place -- make me feel like this isn't the right fit for me.

I can strongly suggest, however, if you haven't yet, that you go check out the forums at Dave's ESL Cafe on this subject. ... Apparently, I am not able to post links to this forum, but if you Google-search on the following:

'dave's esl cafe forum uae' ,

'dave's esl cafe forum "moe english teachers"', 

and

dave's esl cafe forum "uae living costs" ,

you should find two (or possibly more) relevant threads.

Good luck!


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## Fleur_Rouge

kiwiteacher1 , an extra pointer for you: If you go to those forums and create an account on Dave's ESL Cafe, you can send a private message to a user called " oceanbound ", who is also currently in the research-and-interview process for the MoE jobs. She is happy to discuss and share with you the information she has. (You can mention that I sent you.) 

Good luck!

Also: Thank you again, everyone, very much, for your help and information.

(Hmm... This will be my fifth post. I wonder if this will power me up enough that I can post links...)


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## jo660

Hi There,

I too have an interview with MOE next week in Melbourne for science teaching. They have sent a list of regions that they will be interviewing for. The wage offered on the agency website is 90K (AUD) per year, but it doesn't include accomodation except for the first 9 days. I still have a mortgage to pay for in Australia as well as utilities so Im wondering if I will be able to manage both on 7,500 per month, even living frugally. Any advice would be appreciated


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## Racing_Goats

jo660 said:


> Hi There,
> 
> I too have an interview with MOE next week in Melbourne for science teaching. They have sent a list of regions that they will be interviewing for. The wage offered on the agency website is 90K (AUD) per year, but it doesn't include accomodation except for the first 9 days. I still have a mortgage to pay for in Australia as well as utilities so Im wondering if I will be able to manage both on 7,500 per month, even living frugally. Any advice would be appreciated


I think that deal could be quite tricky to manage if you still have outgoings back home (and property ownership there might also mean youre liable to pay Oz tax?), especially accommodation as many places require 6-12 months' rent up front plus security deposit, agent commission and utilities connection.


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## Fleur_Rouge

Personally speaking, I have decided to withdraw from this application process, because my research inclined me to decide that the MoE offer is actually a bad deal. I'm not an expert in UAE economics, but I do know a fair bit about marketing and advertising.

My sense is that what's going on here is that, with the fall in the price of oil leading to budget slashing across the board -- including in education -- the MOE can no longer pay the good salaries it used to, so instead it's slashed them, but is trying to _hide_ this fact by bundling it what would once have been the housing allowance/ free accommodation that is still normal for _good_ jobs in this part of the world. 

My sense is that someone decided to focus on the big number for advertising, in order to hook in Western teachers, who might then neglect to do their research and realize that the lack of housing help of any kind is an enormous red flag.

I think it is, very potentially, a shady, and perhaps shoddy, deal. And I think they're trying to mask that fact -- at the potential expense of foreigners who won't find out the extent to which they're on the hook for housing costs until they're committed and on the ground.

I don't like the way that smells to me. At the least, it causes me to doubt how much transparency or support foreigners can expect from the MOE once on the ground. At worst, it smacks of deliberately deceptive marketing practices, trying to get qualified teachers at a bargain-basement rate by glossing over some of the most serious conditions involved.

I could be wrong, of course. But, since this program is new and it's apparently impossible to get in touch with anyone currently teaching in it, we don't really have any objective information to go on, do we?


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## AlexDhabi

Many eduational establishments have slashed their compensation and benefits packages recently. I think you have probably made some correct conclusions, Fleur_Rouge.


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