Christmas Notes from the General Manager by Diane Jacoutot:
As Teachanywhere wrap up 2011 (this will be the last "notes" of the year), it is a good time to reflect and also to look ahead.
2011 was a challenging year in many ways, but a vibrant year in others. We started the year with the Arab spring, dealt with Tsunamis and floods in Asia, had riots, strikes and protests; as well as austerity measures affecting education spending across many western countries and have been hamstrung by the Euro crisis as the year ends. But not every region was affected equally. Europe
Europe has been very slow this year in terms of growth of international schools and I expect this to continue. I predict that barring any further economic disasters in Euroland, many teachers in European schools will stay put and schools will not contract but continue to hold off expansion plans so opportunities will be very limited. We can expect teacher salaries to remain flat with little competition to force them up, and in many parts of western Europe tax rates will probably increase.
For those with a right to work in the UK, public sector funding will limit the amount of supply jobs. However, London is a transitory place and therefore usually a vibrant market for resilient and flexible supply teachers who can teach successfully at challenging inner-city schools. In the rest of England, however, Agency Worker Regulations are reshaping the landscape and teachers with a lot of experience will often be disadvantaged if they try to land long term supply jobs. We are renewing our partnership with Randstad Education so any teachers with a right to work in the UK wanting to work in London or Manchester areas should contact us.
Middle East
The Arab Spring caused much uncertainty in the beginning of 2011 and it now feels like a distant memory in many ways. International schools in this region continue to grow and thrive, and state school reform projects in Abu Dhabi are continuing on but in a different way (more on this at the end). The Licensed Teacher programme in Abu Dhabi added new grades and has now expanded to include western Head Teachers to step into principal and vice principal roles. We expect this to continue strongly into next year and beyond. Very exciting!
International schools in the UAE and Qatar in particular have never stopped hiring, and most feel cautiously optimistic enough to start expansion plans in 2012 and 2013. Because of the Arab spring, many teachers in the Middle East (especially UAE) decided to stay put last year so I expect a good amount of movement and when combined with natural growth it means lots of opportunities. Qatar in particular is one to watch as the Qataris continue to invest their considerable wealth into infrastructure and technology projects. This will continue to be a bright spot for the Middle East in the next few years which is one of the reasons the whole team visited it last month.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is also looking to hire a number of teachers in both state schools, private state schools and international schools. Salaries are usually quite high in KSA and the cost of living is low, so the savings potential here is huge. For many teachers it is considered more of a hardship post, but for others it's a downpayment on a house. It should be noted that South Africans are highly sought in KSA - there is an educational affinity here- opening up lots of options for degree educated South Africans who want to earn a large amount of money in a relatively small amount of time. After many years of schools saying 'no thanks' to South Africans, it's nice to see this.
Now in the Middle East there is such a range of schools from really top notch schools to schools that we flatly refuse to work with, and it's understandable how teachers can get confused. How can you tell? Certainly not by the school website. But Teachanywhere have always had an office in the Middle East and it's amazing what you can discover with a school visit and feedback from teachers already placed. I would recommend that teachers interested in this region work closely with their consultant and understand both A. What schools will consider you based on your CV and personal situation and B. What you can expect at schools that will consider you. I am quite worried about the number of new rogue UK based agencies I see giddily stepping into the international schools market with no idea of the ethos of the schools they are placing teachers in. They are picking up many schools that we refuse to work with who treat teachers poorly, have no idea how to set a teachers expectations correctly, and I do worry for teachers who unwittingly think they are getting a great service.
Please note that from 2012 we will be giving priority to teachers who register only with Teachanywhere so that we can focus on teachers who value our services and advice.
Africa
With the Egyptian elections over, I predict a huge requirement for teachers in Egypt as the country pulls itself up by its bootstraps and with the help of international investment will try to change the face of the country -starting now. Most Egyptian international schools are attended by Egyptian children and this means we can expect lots of expansion in 2012. We see signs of it already.
Other North African countries such as Sudan and even Libya will see steady development next year. Libya in particular is a place to watch because the international investment will be massive. It was already on the cusp of some interesting school reform and advisory projects before the revolution and it appears to be picking up the pieces and starting anew albeit cautiously.
For the rest of Africa, oil-rich Nigeria will always be a bright spot internationally but like the Middle East, there are quite a few dodgy schools there which need to be avoided. There are a good number of truly good and well run international schools and the trick is to know the difference. Any schools on our books are well known to us based on years of experience but again, other agencies will not have this background and ethos.
Far East and Southeast Asia
It is no coincidence that a number of established British schools groups are uprooting from the UK and relocating their headquarters to Hong Kong. First Nordanglia, and two more big names following next year (not sure it's been announced so I don't want to say publicly what I have been told privately). The Far East and Southeast Asia is an economic bright spot and will remain so for many years to come. Not only is the international school scene vibrant, especially in China, but a number of state schools -both privately and publicly funded are looking to hire more western expatriates to teach their academic high flyers. So the appetite, especially in China, for teachers will be voracious in 2012 for teachers. Teachanywhere are also included in a bid for state schools in Hong Kong, so if that comes through, there may be lots of opportunity there as well.
We expect continued growth in Indonesia, Malaysia and even Vietnam as those emerging economies steadily prosper. Salaries may seem very low in these countries but the cost of living is even lower so teachers who are flexible and open minded may find huge savings potential here along with a fascinating lifestyle.
Based on our school visits, I can say that schools in the Far East and SE Asia tend to be more academically focussed on average, when compared to similar schools in the Middle East, North Africa and even Europe. High educational attainment is an integral part of many cultures here and it's reflected in attitudes towards schools, teachers and academics. The combination of high quality educational focus and high economic growth in this part of the world must be hugely exciting for many teachers.
Central Asia / East Europe
I need to point out that we are seeing green shoots of growth in certain Eastern European/Central Asian countries. Watch this space.
India - a special case
We are seeing a number of interesting developments in India but most international schools receive fees that are so low that they cannot pay western teachers anything near what they are expecting. India is a booming economy but with a decent educational system and a good supply of home grown teachers, only the very top or most motivated international schools can hire you so there will be limited but interesting opportunities. Another space to watch as the year progresses.
Latin America
Again, flickers in some parts of Latin America. I find that growth in international schools often follows a construction boom, and Brazil in particular is in the midst of a construction boom. That being said, there are many more factors that affect international schools growth including ministry regulations, attitudes towards education and public policy so it's uncertain at the moment. Last year growth in Latin America was pretty stagnant and it will take a mighty engine to turn this around especially since much of Latin America's economy is tethered to the US which is facing presidential elections next year so it's unlikely that we will see much real growth next year, even if it all moves in the right direction.
Advisory and other projects
The huge Public Private Partnership (PPP) educational reform projects in Abu Dhabi are closing up shop in June 2012, which means that large numbers of subject specialist advisory teachers will be hitting the market. ADEC (through us) are picking up some of the cluster director and very experienced management advisors into their principal and vice principal roles, but these jobs are only open to school leaders who actually were principals and vice principals before starting on the advisory project and are not open to those who worked their way up but have never run a school themselves. ADEC are also picking up a small number of subject specific advisory teachers but these numbers will be very very small and will not provide posts for all the advisors who have them currently.
A new CPD (continuous professional development) PPP project is on the cusp of being awarded in Abu Dhabi, and we believe that many of the regular PPPs will be included in some form or another. But again, because there are fewer of these jobs we expect them to mainly pick up experienced Principals who can cover many aspects of CPD rather than subject specialist teachers who are more limited in scope.
Malaysia has invested in English / EFL Advisors and we have those jobs available. The pay and benefits packages are not as high as the Middle East but the cost of living is very, very low. The Malaysia core subject reform has not taken off like the EFL section due to government policy changes so I don't expect the core subject advisory jobs to materialise in any great number this year.
The Kuwait reform project still shimmers on the horizon but after waiting 2+ years for this thing to come through, it's just not clear if or how it will emerge. Watch this space..... but don't hold your breath!
The bottom line is that for the vast majority of staff in the Abu Dhabi PPP reform projects who are looking at the end of the road in 2012, you will need to set your sights elsewhere and reset your expectations on pay and benefits. I don't see any other country in the world tackling reform in such a broad and comprehensive way with same amount of financial resources and government will behind it. This is not all bad news - it will probably be a refreshing change to drop back into the international school scene - but it's unlikely you will find exactly what you had before.
Finally ...
All in all whilst many of the western countries are cutting back on public sector spending, the international market in some parts of the world remains very vibrant. For a flexible and adaptable western trained and experienced teacher who will consider the Far and Middle East and North Africa, it looks to be bright and sunny skies in 2012!
With best wishes for your holidays and the New Year.
