The teachers, who work for an English language institute at the Jeddah-based King Abdulaziz University, told Arab News they do not get paid on time every month. “I have already left the university after waiting for my salary for a whole semester. I never signed a contract that proves that they owe us money. They finally gave me my salary at the end of the semester,” said one of the teachers on condition of anonymity.

“It is not a secure job, we could be thrown out any moment. The lack of professionalism is the reason I quit. I had to leave to preserve what little dignity I had remaining.”

Another teacher, who also chose to remain anonymous, said she was really eager to advance her teaching career.

“I graduated from the same university. I was eager to apply there and teach the basics of English to the younger generation,” she said.

“I was later disappointed with the treatment we received from them. I’ve been teaching for a whole semester and only been paid once. I used to love my job, but nowadays I literally drag my feet to work.”

Many teachers left their old jobs because they were promised permanent positions at the university’s English language institute.

“We were told that about 20 teachers would be chosen to sign permanent contracts, while the others would sign yearly contracts and continue working by the hour,” claimed one teacher.

“Now they are replacing us with so-called native English speakers. Bizarrely, only a couple of them are actually Americans. The rest are Indians, Pakistanis, Palestinians and Lebanese, which contradicts the reason of replacing us Saudi teachers.”

There were also claims that the teachers were being made to work overtime without being paid for the extra hours.

“We were told that these hours came as 'part of the package'. What package? We didn’t even sign a contract,” another teacher said.

She added that the teachers’ hands are tied in terms of protesting against their treatment.

“I know people might wonder why we do not boycott the university and stop going to work until we get what we were promised, but we have even bigger issues. Most of us are applying for a scholarship through the university and if we didn’t work they might not sign our papers,” she said.

The teachers’ supervisor told Arab News that the employees were classed as “not yet appointed,” which meant they were only supposed to receive their salaries once a semester. “We tried our best to change this system but it’s out of our hands. It is up to them to stay and bear with it while gaining experience in a professional environment,” she said.

“It’s a new institute and it is still in the process of developing. Those teachers are doing a good job and we will try our best to fix this problem by next year.”