Five-year Bangladesh visa freeze makes hiring teachers tough, says school head
A five-year freeze on issuing visas to workers from Bangladesh has placed additional strain on one of the emirate’s oldest schools.
The Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Bangladesh Islamia School in Abu Dhabi is one of only two Bangladesh-curriculum schools in the country. Its Dhaka curriculum is delivered in English and Bangla.
The school has been unable to recruit teachers from the country since a ban on work visas for new Bangladeshi workers came into effect in 2012, instituted because of rising crime levels among its expatriates.
School principal Mir Anisul Hasan is concerned about the hiring freeze, telling the audience of officials: “We need some help.”
Later he acknowledged that his candidness may not have been correct or diplomatic, but he thought it had been important to raise the matter.
“I tried to pass the message that we are suffering for want of teachers,” said Mr Hasan, who has been with the school for more than 30 years.
The ban has forced the school to recruit staff from within the UAE but even then there are challenges.
“We are able to recruit from here, but Bangladeshi teachers very often are rejected, even locally. We are not getting approval,” Mr Hasan said.
About half of the school’s staff – including 49 teachers and 19 teaching assistants – are Bangladeshi.
Most of the curriculum’s books are in English, except for Bangla language and literature subjects.
“So teachers coming from other countries like India, Sri Lanka, Egypt – they can teach,” he said.
Of the 665 pupils who attended the school last year, 98 per cent were Bangladeshi, 1 per cent were Indian and 1 per cent Sri Lankan.
“The thing is, from Grade 9 to Grade 12 we need teachers who have got expertise in learning and teaching from Bangladesh,” Mr Hasan said.
“They are better acquainted with our syllabus, our curriculum – so we prefer teachers from our country.”
While pupils are becoming highly proficient at reading and writing in English, he said he was concerned their Bangla language and Bangladeshi culture were suffering.
“It’s about cultural orientation and cultural familiarity,” Mr Hasan said.
“Bangladesh teachers can definitely play a good role.
“I have seen that students are getting away from our culture due to lack of training in cultural consciousness. They find it a little difficult to write in Bangla, although they speak it very well.
“This is an alarming situation. If there is no good training in the mother tongue, I am sure natural education will never happen.”