New Unesco report shows how teacher migrants in Gulf States have been left vulnerable from a change in education policy

The new 2019 Global Education Monitoring Report by UNESCO highlights countries’ achievements and shortcomings in ensuring the right of migrant and refugee children to benefit from quality education, a right that serves the interests of both learners and the communities they live in. It shows that extent of teacher migration to the Gulf States form Arab countries, but cautions that these same teachers have been left vulnerable by a change in education policy to prioritise English-speaking teachers.

Migrants are the majority group in the society in countries in the Gulf States, including Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, while they make up just 14% in high income countries and 1.5% in low and middle income countries. This included migration of many teachers, partly due to the pull of high salaries: in Qatar, expatriate Arabs comprised approximately 87% of teachers in all government schools in 2013. In the United Arab Emirates, 90% of teachers in government boys’ schools and 20% in girls’ schools were expatriate Arabs in the 2010/11 academic year.

Overtime, opportunities for Arab teachers declined, but they continued to migrate, subsequently facing numerous challenges, both economic and non-economic. The report cites unstable and discriminatory working conditions and a lack of long-term contracts leaving teachers in a vulnerable position, and left to supplement their salaries by private tutoring. A study of grade 12 students in the United Arab Emirates found that 65% received private tutoring by tutors, 65% of whom came from Egypt and 29% from other Arab countries.

A change of curriculum policy in 2010/11 aiming to introduce English as the language of instruction by 2030 has seen policies towards teacher migration take a sudden shift, with Egyptian and Jordanian teachers in Emirati schools being replaced by English-speaking recruits, being hired under much more favourable terms and afforded generous benefits. By contrast, the report notes, Jordanian Emirati teachers reported wage discrimination and absence of support.

“Teachers are people, not processes,“ said Manos Antoninis, Director of the GEM Report. “Stricter regulations should be in place to protect teachers from fast turnarounds in recruitment policy. They must be hired in the schools and on the conditions promised.”

Highly skilled migrants also leave the region, often for scholarships. Students from Saudi Arabia are among the five largest international student groups in the United States and Saudi Arabia established the King Abdullah Scholarship Program in 2005 to fund overseas degrees. Yet reports from 2016 suggest there will be budget cuts within the programme and restrictions on academic eligibility requirements, fields of study and eligible universities that may change these flows.

Whilst migrants to the Gulf States are largely economic, the report also underscores the educational requirements of refugees in the rest of the region. It praises countries in Western Asia, such as Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey, where almost a third of the world’s refugees are hosted, for their inclusive education policies towards Syrian refugees. The Islamic Republic of Iran has also decreed that schools should accept all Afghan children regardless of documentation.

This report presents the following recommendations:

Protect the right to education of migrants and displaced people

Include migrants and displaced people in the national education system

Understand and plan for the education needs of migrants and displaced people

Represent migration and displacement histories in education accurately to challenge prejudices

Prepare teachers of migrants and refugees to address diversity and hardship

Harness the potential of migrants and displaced people through skills and qualifications recognition

Support education needs of migrants and displaced people in humanitarian and development aid.

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For further information, please contact:
Sterling Media
Tel: +44 20 7801 0077
Email: unesco@sterlingmedia.co.uk 

Visit the #EducationOnTheMove campaign page to see the stories of people on the move around the world in real time, showing their challenges, and successes in accessing an inclusive education.

Visit the Report’s electronic press kit for Report materials and multi-media content, including b-roll

Key Middle East Facts:
Unlike low and middle income countries, where the share of migrants in the population has remained constant and low at about 1.5%, the share in high income countries increased from 10% in 2000 to 14% in 2017. In Gulf states, such as Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, migrants are the majority group

Migration based on language fluency is symptomatic of the relatively recent trend of hiring international native English speakers. Egyptian and Jordanian teachers in Emirati schools are being replaced by English-speaking recruits, largely from high income countries, who were hired under much more favourable terms and afforded generous benefits. By comparison, Jordanian Emirati teachers reported absence of support and wage discrimination

© Press Release 2018