Thursday, April 30, 2015

International School Review

So ABS school changed its name....lol American Bilingual School is now American Baccalaureate School Kuwait

One thing that has not changed is the way they run the school since they still get terrible reviews on the International School Review website.

Actually I decided to revisit this blog because I know someone who just came back from teaching in the "Arab" Gulf. Many of the tactics they endured were so similar to the hellish experience I had years ago. They tried to stick it out to finish to the end of the year but they have been repeatedly getting their pay docked for no reason while they are dealing with non stop chaos from kids who are out of control. Then add in the parents who bully for their kids to get them out of their misbehavior and demanding or bribing so that they have their grades changed. As a teacher you are a professional and should not be treated like garbage by people who do not value what you put so much thought and care in to offer their children. It would seem that since westerners are not really welcomed or valued there by a vast majority, then we should learn from the facts and we should not go there. Let them "educate" themselves.

Please- If you are an expat and you are thinking of going to any of the PERSIAN Gulf countries to teach, DON'T. Research online and save yourself the emotional and potential physical distress. When you read online, read between the lines. When a school makes a blog to slander a teacher with name calling or a post sounds a bit off as in it sounds too good to be true, do know that it most likely is a scamming administrator wanting to lie about their reputation instead of putting in the effort to try to truly improve their school's reputation.

Interesting article about so many International schools changing their name: https://internationalschoolsreviewdiscuss.wordpress.com/2015/02/

Also a very detailed and very informative account from an expat teacher from Kuwait: http://www.nohrden.net/Nohrden/Care.html

Lastly, PLEASE do yourself a favor, pay the membership to get full access to read all the reviews. Here is a freebee from their blog https://internationalschoolsreviewdiscuss.wordpress.com/2011/04/07/im-ready-to-run/

Best wishes and be safe expats! Kristen Jones