Page 16 - ELG1601 Feb Issue 433

ELjobs
Page 16 February 2016

Issue 2 | February 2016

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(GCC) is made up of six mem- English demand ‘to double
he Gulf Cooperation Council

grouping with a quickly expanding by 2020’ in the Gulf states
Tber states: Bahrain, Kuwait, the
United Arab Emirates (UAE), Oman,
Qatar and Saudi Arabia. It is a diverse
population that offers residents much to
explore and experience. New initiatives
in education, government and society Jalpa Trivedi explains why it’s the right time to consider a career with the Council
mean it has the potential to become
one of the most globalised parts of the
Middle East. Still heavily rooted in its after initial training. They are recruited
Arab traditions and the Islamic faith, the from across the globe with the major-
region nevertheless has attractions for ity coming from Europe, East Asia,
foreign visitors and residents. North America and within the Gulf
Qatar and Kuwait are safe to live in. states and Mena region itself. Due to the
The British Council works closely with high volume of project-based work we
the UK Foreign and Commonwealth undertake with ministries, corporations,
Office (FCO) and others to ensure the governments and academic institutions,
safety of its employees. Current FCO we recruit a large proportion of teachers
advice warns against travel to the areas on short-term contracts (six months or
of Saudi Arabia bordering Yemen and less). In the Gulf region our centres in
Iraq (which have no British Council Doha (Qatar), Muscat (Oman) and Abu
schools) and recommends that travel- Dhabi (UAE) have the greatest need for
lers to Bahrain ‘be vigilant, avoid large short-term teachers.
crowds and demonstrations’. Most vis- As well as teachers and senior teach-
its to Oman and the UAE (with a million ers, we also recruit teacher trainers,
UK citizens visiting the Emirates every materials writers, ICT specialists and
year) are ‘trouble-free’, according to middle managers. In our larger centres
current FCO advice, which mentions there are teaching roles with additional
only inconvenience when crossing responsibilities, for example coordi-
the Oman–UEA border, although this nating ICT resources or courses for
advice recently added that the UAE now young learners.
faces ‘a high threat from terrorism’. By 2020 we aim be a world authority
The Gulf enjoys high GDP per capita on high-quality English language teach-
thanks to a small population coupled with Courtesy British Council ing, learning and assessment, as well as
oil revenues. Qatar, Kuwait and the UAE the international distributor of choice
are considered among the richest coun- for UK high-stakes professional and
tries in the world, and expats enjoy their school exams. A career with the Brit-
share of this through subsidies and the OPPORTUNITY In 2014 the British Council recruited a hundred teachers to work for its centres in the Gulf region ish Council is a great way to enjoy the
absence of income tax. From a recruit- culture, history and hospitality of this
ment perspective, language centres in ish Council in the region and in 2014 we ties. In fiscal year 2014 we recruited with experience in early years in the region – and to help make a positive dif-
the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar tend reached approximately 88,000 students approximately a hundred teachers to near future. British Council centres ference to its people. n
to recruit the highest number of teachers face to face through our teaching centres. work for our centres in the Gulf region already run early-years English classes
as many are attracted to the lifestyle and We are forecasting this number to signifi- alone. We expect this number to increase in East Asia, and we aim to open some- Jalpa Trivedi is regional teaching
opportunities available there. cantly increase, if not double, by 2020. in the years to come. thing similar in the Middle East and centre recruitment manager, Middle
The British Council has been teach- Demand for high-quality English lan- Another area in which we are hoping North Africa (Mena) region. East and North Africa region for the
ing English in the Gulf for more than 75 guage provision continues to grow, with to recruit more is early years. Demand Our teachers need a Tefl qualification British Council (MENA-TeacherRe-
years. We are on the ground in six coun- more and more young people seeking to for English classes for pre-schoolers in (Cambridge Celta or Trinity Certificate cruitment@ae.britishcouncil.org).
tries, and run ten teaching centres. Around improve their English in order to access the Gulf region is also increasing and Tesol) and at least two years’ experience The British Council’s job site is at
300 qualified teachers work at the Brit- better jobs and educational opportuni- we want to recruit specialist teachers teaching English to groups of students https://jobs.britishcouncil.org