Teachers and school administrations alike are relieved by the recent Labor Ministry announcement allowing expat teachers on dependent visas to work at private schools without having to transfer their sponsorships.
The announcement had been made by Ahmed Al-Humaidan, undersecretary for labor policies at the ministry.
Several teachers have expressed gratitude for being afforded the opportunity to be part of a knowledge-based economy.
“This new decision will help international schools run more smoothly,” said Sadia Kaleem, the head of Al Hukama International School.
“We lost teachers who were very experienced and had been working with us for long time. This decision will help us hire them back to ensure quality education for our children.”
“The performance of many teachers had been affected amid this fiasco because they were worried about their futures, but hopefully, with this good news, everything will be back to normal.”
“Teachers particularly feared losing the privileges they were getting from their husbands’ companies, which they now no longer have to worry about.”
Padma Hariharan, director and head of the Novel International Group of Institutions, also welcomed the decision warmly.
“From an administrative point of view, I sincerely appreciate the well-structured system that they are trying to implement to ensure that academic flow is not disturbed and quality remains high,” she said.
“Some points, nevertheless, still need clarification, but we are sure that ministry officials are working on it.”
“One such point is what to do about the yearly renewal of eligibility certificates at Indian schools, where the academic year spans April to March, unlike British and American dates.”
“The fact that eligibility certificates are only issued from September to August could complicate these teachers’ registration on the Ajeer” recruitment system and their visas could be halted.”
“Another question is whether teachers can work for other schools should they wish to leave their current jobs,” she said.
Other teachers were also all praise for the new decision.
“We are very thankful for the Ajeer system, which caters for expatriates,” said Amena Sultana, a senior teacher.
“I am thankful for the decision made by the ministry. We can finally work without fear,” said Hina Talib, primary coordinator.
Bathool Unnisa, senior coordinator, and Zainab Iqbal of another international school, also expressed gratitude and relief over the recent decision.
“We were going to lose good and experienced teachers, but this announcement has saved us from having to make such a costly sacrifice,” they said.
Educators, teachers laud Labor Ministry decision
