RIYADH, 24 January 2007 — A group of about 1,000 teachers has officially lodged a complaint against the Ministry of Education’s policy of not counting private-school experience while hiring teachers for government schools.
The Education Ministry is responsible for hiring teachers in government schools. “Why didn’t they tell us this at the beginning of the school year,” said one teacher who did not want to be named to Al-Riyadh newspaper. “Why now? If they have told us before we would have not taken these jobs.”
The teachers claim that the rules were announced on Jan. 6 and made the rule retroactive, meaning that for many teachers past work experience at private schools suddenly wouldn’t be counted for public school work.
Private school work is considered by many teachers to be harder, and the salaries and benefits are often less. Private schools typically do not pay for vacations or time-off during school breaks.
