TEACHERS NEED PROOF OF GOOD CONDUCT FOR PAST FIVE YEARS TO WORK IN DUBAI
▶ Emirate’s education regulator widens background checks to ensure greater protection of children
Background checks are being increased by Dubai’s education regulator to ensure teachers with a criminal background cannot slip under the radar.
The Knowledge and Human Development Authority said candidates must now produce a good conduct certificate from the countries in which they worked in the past five years.
Although individual schools already have background checks, the regulator said the five-year demand will be the standard requirement across the school network.
Without that, teachers will not pass the necessary employment and visa checks.
“Teachers are in contact with minors and we don’t want the wrong people to be in contact with children,” said Dr Naji Al Mahdi, chief of qualifications and awards.
“Someone like a paedophile will find a place where they can come in contact with children. In all developed countries, you have to go for a police check before you join a school. No adult is allowed to go into a school unless they have been vetted.
“We are strengthening this. We are improving the system of checks on our teachers. We need the protection for our children to be as good as any developed country.
“While earlier, when someone had to join as a teacher from country X, they needed only a local good conduct certificate. Now, we are demanding that they get the certificate from the countries in which they have worked in the past five years.”
Dr Al Mahdi said schools and the authorities were aware that teachers who had either been struck from the professional register or convicted of an offence in another country may try to find work here.
“We want to know if they were OK in the country of origin or the country where they were working before they came here,” he said.
“When you are dealing with children, of course you will need a check. The protection comes from knowing you have a clean history. If you want to be a teacher, you must have a record of good conduct.”
In April, the government suspended plans to require evidence from new residents who had not been convicted of a crime in the past five years.
Businesses said they could not process visas properly, particularly from applicants who had lived in different countries. They would have been required to contact police forces or authorities in each of these countries.
But many public sector organisations and private companies continue to stipulate that employees do so for their own records.
David Hicks, founding principal of Dubai International Academy – Al Barsha, said most schools already carefully check teachers’ backgrounds.
“Most schools have adopted these checks in recent years. They are adopting safer recruitment practices,” Mr Hicks said.
He said “parents will feel much more secure and comfortable that the people in charge of their children have these certificates”.
“This is the case almost always, but there have been cases both here and overseas when less scrupulous individuals have got through the net.”
Brendon Fulton, principal of Dubai British School in Emirates Hills, said some schools, including his own, even require volunteers to secure good certificates from Dubai Police.
“Parents will have peace of mind that people coming to work at the school don’t have criminal records,” he said.
Jeff Evans, from Learning Key Education Consultancy, said the best schools looked for black marks on teachers’ careers.
“It’s not only whether they have been convicted of criminal offences, it’s about making sure they’re suitable and safe to work with children,” he said.