Teachers need stability to succeed

One way of retaining foreign educators is to make the teaching environment welcoming

Science class of the Year 10 students, as Dubai College got an outstanding review from KHDA at their annual inspection report. Jeffrey E Biteng / The National

The best education experiences often involve an encounter with an enthusiastic teacher. The finest teachers have the ability to breathe life into education and make the learning process of discovery and engagement. As such, teachers are far more than mere education professionals but the foundation of the pedagogical environment. Without them, schools would be little more than a collection of bland textbooks and intimidating tests.

Given the importance of good teachers, the recruitment process is a delicate one. With education budgets falling across the world – except in Scandinavia – finding great teachers and keeping them is an international challenge.

Local recruiting companies are finding it difficult to hire and, more importantly, retain teachers for existing schools. (And then there is the pipeline of new schools to come.) The annual turnover rate, as The National reported yesterday, is about 20 per cent at international schools. That number is even higher at public schools. While the underlying causes for this attrition rate have particularities to the UAE, they are not unique. Still, resolving them won’t be easy. But there are at least a few things that can be accomplished in the interim.

Every teacher, like any professional, strives for stability in the workplace. And there is anecdotal evidence to suggest that upheavals in school administrations have had an effect on teachers’ job satisfaction. A focus on administrative and operation efficiencies would go some way towards mitigating on-the-job frustrations: in short, letting teachers get on with their work instead of fretting over bureaucracy. In addition, changes to the curriculum might be kept to a prudent minimum, so that teachers aren’t always just trying to keep up with the newest initiatives but instead can focus on honing lesson plans.

The aim ought to be to create a stable environment that will attract nationals into the profession and will convince foreign teachers to come and stay for a longer term. That said, we are under no illusion that our suggestions, on their own, are enough to resolve the problem. Indeed, an increasingly globalised world has ramped up demand for the nomads of the teaching profession that we are so very dependent on. Our schools need a complete package that convinces recruits and existing staff that they can most happily fulfil their professional and financial aspirations here in the Emirates.