JEDDAH: The row that took place two weeks ago between the director of Al-Faisal Academy in Riyadh, the agent they hired and English language teachers working at the Girls’ Teachers College has ended on a happy note for some but a sour note for others.
The row began primarily over a non-payment by Al-Faisal Academy and contract issues the teachers signed with Mohammed Yasin, an agent hired by Al-Faisal Academy.
The issues came to light when the academy’s executive director, Abdulaziz Al Rafi paid a visit to the Khaled bin Waleed Street campus saying that he would like to work directly with the teachers and annul the contract made between Yasin and the teachers the agent had hired.
To rectify the situation Yasin offered to void the contract he had with Al-Rafi and allow him to sign new contracts with the teachers provided that Al-Rafi honored his previous contract to pay the teachers up to Dec. 23, which was the end of the program, an agreement Al-Rafi signed and stamped initially and then refused later.
Since then, Arab News has learned that as of last week all the teachers have received full payment with half of the previously employed teachers signing new contracts directly with Al-Rafi and Al-Faisal Academy while the other half have had their contracts terminated.
Arab News tried to get in contact with Yasin to get more information on his situation as well as that of the other teachers; however acco-rding to sources he is currently out of the country.
“As far as payment goes, this is the bright note that all teachers received the remainder of their salaries on Jan. 6 with some signing new contracts while others like myself not, as the college has employed other teachers,” said Sharia Walker, former faculty supervisor at the college.
During the dispute, students, who were studying in a preparatory English language program for recipients of the King Abdullah Scholarship Program, had begun protesting, claiming “a lack of quality education” due to being merged into classes containing as many as 100 students per teacher instead of the usual 25, following a lack of faculty resulting from the protests.
Since the resolution of the row students have returned to normal class size and to their studies.
Teachers who have had their contracts terminated are not letting matters rest but have complained of little help from the academy, or Ministry of Higher Education.
Previously during the row, Walker had stated that the teachers had drafted a letter to the Minister of Higher Education, Khaled Al-Anqari explaining the problems but had received no reply at that time.
“To be quite frank, I had hoped to get in touch with the Ministry of Higher Education,” she said, saying that they were able to speak briefly to someone from the ministry explaining to him their plight but they were met with little interest. “Basically we were just brushed-off,” she said.
