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Teachers’ pay is most competitive says Adec

Dh28,000 is entry-level salary for an Emirati teacher

Abu Dhabi — The teaching profession is much more rewarding in terms of work-life balance and pay scale compared to civil servants.

“If you’re a teacher, you have that level of balance between your life (being a mother and a wife) and you being teacher,” said Salama Alameemi, executive director of the Organisational Development and Excellence Office at the Abu Dhabi Education Council (Adec).

Salama Alameemi; Ali Rashed Al Ketbi, Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Tawteen Council; and Dr Amal Al Qubaisi addressing the launch of the Eadad programme in Abu Dhabi on Monday. — KT photo by Nezar Balout 

“Secondly, when we adopted the new pay scale, it was the most competitive pay scale international, locally and regionally. In fact, when we looked at workload adjustment in comparison to civil service, the teacher receives higher pay because their hours are less. If you look at money value towards the hours, they are receiving more than the civil servant,” she pointed out, noting that civil servants work 40 hours a week whereas teachers have to work only 30 hours per week.

The new pay scale, which increased teacher’s salaries by 25 to 35 per cent, was introduced by Adec in 2013 in an effort to attract Emiratis into the education sector. The revised entry-level salary for teacher nowadays is around Dh28,000.

According to Alameemi, a number of “people” have lost interest in taking up teaching as a profession. But Adec is keen on changing that with a number of initiatives to make the sector attractive to Emiratis.

In addition to revising the pay scale and making the teaching environment attractive, Adec has also introduced Eadad (enabling) programme aimed at training new recruits to equip themselves with the required proficiency level in teaching.

Eadad was introduced in 2013 starting with 35 new teachers. This year, 53 candidates will undergo a four-month long training that includes theoretical and on-the-job training programmes with the Emirates College for Advanced Education (ECAE).

“This is an extra programme to bridge the gap (in skills),” said Alameemi. The training included enhancing soft skills in classroom management, methods in teaching and strengthening communication skills.

There are 4,390 Emirati teachers, which is 39 per cent of the total teachers at public schools and 3,231 Emirati administrators at present. The total Emirati employees at Adec schools currently stand at 7,621.

Adec targets to increase Emirati teachers to 50 per cent by 2018. “The purpose of the percentage is to have sustainability on the business. Today it’s a system that depends very much on a mix of nationalities,” Alameemi pointed out.

“We have a huge demand for teachers, but supply is not as much as we expected,” she said noting the need in all cycles, particularly in cycle 1, which is getting female oriented, including boys’ schools. She added the need for Emirati teachers who can teach English-medium subjects such as Science, Math and English.

At the launch of the second batch of the Eadad programme on Monday, Dr Amal Al Qubaisi, Adec’s director-general, stressed the need for “qualified educators who spare no efforts to enhance their skills.”

“The main objective of the programme is to improve competencies of teachers and support teachers in the area of education,” she explained.

olivia@khaleejtimes.com