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UAE teacher shortage: Schools urged not to ignore ‘red flags’ in rush to recruit
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Schools have been warned at a child safeguarding conference in Dubai not to hurry teacher background checks in their rush to recruit posts.

One head teacher said some schools were so desperate to fill vacancies that they offered roles before they even received references, reports The National.

Schools hiring new teachers have been urged to ensure qualifications are attested and watch out for ‘red flags’ in a candidate’s background – which could be anything from unexplained gaps in a CV, to dubious references or a questionable social media presence – to ensure that child safeguarding is embedded in their recruitment practices.

Global teacher shortage hits UAE

Unesco figures show that there was a massive global teacher shortage long before the pandemic hit, and this crisis has only got worse in recent years.

In the UAE, schools are experiencing an increased need for teaching staff amidst growing student enrolment and a shortage of international candidates.

Enrolment in Dubai’s private schools grew 3.5% in 2021, with an addition of nearly 10,000 students, according to figures from Dubai’s private-school regulator, the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA).

The pressure for staff has reportedly risen further because UAE government schools did not recruit new teachers for about 18 months during remote and hybrid learning, according to Roddy Hammond, Founder & CEO, Worldteachers Recruitment Ltd.

Meanwhile, a shortage of willing international candidates has also been a problem. UAE schools often recruit teachers from abroad, but UAE principals say that it is becoming increasingly difficult to attract the best talent, since UAE school packages are becoming less competitive.

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The majority of Dubai private schools teach the British curriculum, and the UK is one of the major talent pools from which schools recruit their teachers. But while Dubai’s teachers’ salaries have largely stagnated in line with the school fees freeze over the past three years, the UK government awarded teachers their biggest pay rise in 15 years in the summer of 2020. The starting salary for new teachers was raised by 5.5% and the UK government increased the upper and lower boundaries of the pay ranges for all other teachers by 2.75%.

In India – another major source of UAE teacher talent, with the majority of UAE school teachers being of Indian nationality – many states have also raised teacher salaries, with some hiking them up by as much as 50%.

A Dubai school Principal, who asked to remain anonymous, told SchoolsCompared.com:

“We are losing out in the teacher market as other countries have caught up in comparison to the cost of living here. Dubai is now not a first choice in the teaching market.”

Global teacher shortage bites hard in UAE as salaries rocket

Education recruitment fairs have been ongoing since early January and there are still a large number of vacancies in certain subject areas, mainly Secondary English and Maths, says Ruth Harron, who recruits for teaching roles in the UAE for both international and national schools (www.teachersinuae.com).

“I am noticing a steady demand for international teachers to join schools in the UAE. Recruitment fairs will continue up until June to ensure we can fill outstanding roles and most importantly have a fully staffed set of schools for children arriving.”

Is a rush to hire teachers putting kids at risk?

With the pressure to fill teaching-role vacancies, child safeguarding experts say some schools are at risk of hiring without spending enough time doing background checks.

Teachers are in a privileged position of influence over children and past scandals underline the crucial importance of thorough due diligence prior to accepting a candidate.

“There is always something to look at, particularly if schools are in a hurry to employ staff — we know it happens,” said Nav Iqbal, principal at Gems Metropole School, during the Child Safeguarding Middle East forum, reported on by The National.

“I have known schools elsewhere recruit over the phone as they have deadlines and targets to fill vacancies, particularly for specialist roles.

“This should not be happening but some schools are desperate to recruit and offer a role before asking for references.”

The KHDA requires that all new-hire teachers must have a UAE police clearance certificate, as well as a letter from their previous school confirming he or she is of good standing.

Additionally, a teacher who has not resided continuously in the UAE for at least five years after arriving in the UAE must have a police clearance certificate from each country of residence over the past five years.

But education leaders have been warned to go even further to verify that teaching candidates are suitable, including researching any previous misconduct charges that may not have led to criminal charges, and analysing a candidate’s employment history for any question marks. Outdated work histories, references from previous employers but not the most recent employer, and referees with unofficial email addresses such as a Gmail or Hotmail account are all things that should be double checked.

Nevertheless, the Dubai Schools Inspection Bureau, which rates schools based on inspection criteria that includes child safeguarding measures, said improvements have been made.

“As regulators we must ensure that schools have effective procedures to ensure children are kept safe,” said Fatima Belrahif, chief executive of the bureau at the Knowledge and Human Development Authority.

“The DISB has prioritised health and safety to ensure schools have processes to protect children, while the UAE school inspection framework stresses the importance of regular procedures for their safeguarding.

“When we started this 14 years ago, around half of schools had health and safety procedures rated as good or better.

“Year after year, practices have been reviewed and improved to extend that. Now 93 per cent of schools have good inspections or better.”

Further pressures

Global teacher shortages are also piling pressure on schools to increase salaries to retain the staff they do have, as well as creating pressures on recruitment. Outstanding teaching faculty are now in hot demand. Read more on this story here.

© SchoolsCompared.com. 2022. All rights reserved.

About The Author
Tabitha Barda
Tabitha Barda is the Senior Editor of SchoolsCompared.com. Oxbridge educated and an award winning journalist in the UAE for more than a decade, Tabitha is one of the region's shining lights in all that is education in the emirates. A mum herself, she is passionate about helping parents - and finding the stories in education that deserve telling. She is responsible for the busy 24x7 News Desk, our Advisory Boards and Specialist Panels - and Parents United's WHICHPlaydates - a regular meeting place for UAE parents to discuss the issues that matter to them, make friends and network with others. You can often find Tabitha too on Parents United - our Facebook community board, discussing the latest schools and education issues with our parent community in the UAE - and beyond.

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