Do EdEx provide compound accommodation?

nope, they provide accommodation, but not on a compound

...thank you, rareshine

Hi,

I have a contract with Edex to start in August 2014 but I was told there are some problems with the company and that they are probably going to cancel my contract. Is this true? Are you going to start this summer? Where? In Riyadh?

HUMBLEMAN wrote:

Hi,

I have a contract with Edex to start in August 2014 but I was told there are some problems with the company and that they are probably going to cancel my contract. Is this true? Are you going to start this summer? Where? In Riyadh?

Why would they cancel your contract? They are actively recruiting on job sites? It is very concerning if that's true for anyone who has signed and is waiting patiently for their visa to be processed.

They are not recruiting for KSU any more but they are definitely recruiting for PNU

As I thought, I have received an email from Edex saying that they lost their contract to KSU hence I lost my contract with them.
Does anyone know of any other agency that would employ ESL teachers for KSA?
Thank you

I'm guessing you're male. That would mean that PNU is out of the question. There are some positions still available with ICEAT and Laureatte I think. I can't recommend either, though, because I haven't had experience with them. Maybe you can ask others about them.

Yes, Apply to ICEAT. It's my third year working with them and they are very good.

Al Hussan education and training has taken over edex's contract with KSU.
Many of the men from Edex are resigning with them.

Edex does not provide compound accomodation. They have apartment blocks where teachers are housed.
Saudi British Council has only just moved their employees into a compound.
But the compound is very far from both universities. SBC pays less than Edex and SBC staff have been asked to pay 5000SR in deposit for living in the compound.

Thank you
I have applied with them but got no joy up to now. I am really desperate. Please help!

Mudarisa- Is it true that it's a western compound? Is it the one in durrat Riyadh? Is the 5000 SR deposit part of their housing allowance? Is it really an hour drive from PNU?

yes, it is a western compound. the deposit is separate to their housing allowance. they have been told they will be reimbursed at the end of their contracts. whether this is true or not, is yet to be found out.
it is very, very far from PNU.

Try applying to all of these:

Al Khaleej
Saudi British Council
Adwaa Arabia
Edex (Are still recruiting for other cities)
ICEAT

Also consider applying direct to KSU, if that is an option.

Thank you
I will start right now and hope something will happen.

Good luck!

Mudarisa is right. Edex housing is far - over an hour - or even longer when there are accidents. You'll leave extremely early if you teach in the mornings and God help you if you're late. You won't get home till close to 6 pm most days. Basically 12 hour days on the weekdays. And you can't leave early or come late or you'll get a warning.

By the way, Edex has had problems with paying people too.  Teachers have been complaining and some didn't come back after the Hajj break because they didn't get paid. Edex doesn't have a great track record - most contracting companies don't because they're in it solely for the money.

Dizzylizzy,
Did you meant SBC compound? That is what Mudrisa was referring to when she said the housing was very very far.

Hi desert blue. Yes, I'm sorry, I meant SBC. The SBC compound is extremely far from PNU, though some teachers consider the two-plus hours of commute back and forth worth it because you can at least have a somewhat normal social life, unlike PNU housing. Edex has not been paying their teachers (again!) lately. Neither company has a great record when it comes to paying their teachers. Take your pick.

Thanks Dizzylizzy for that information. Yeah the 2 hours commute sounds terrible. I guess you have to weight it against the benefits you receive. Personally I couldn't deal with that extra stress.I'm confused about why the teachers are not getting paid lately.Has PNU or the contractors run out of money😣

Hi desert blue. Your guess is as good as mine. Someone said it's because HR financial oprerations has now moved to the men's side and they haven't caught up on our paperowrk and aren't done with the transferring, but no one really knows!

PNU hasn't run out of money, and they eventually do pay everything they owe you - except overtime which you have to fight for, but you'll get your salary otherwise. But there are always delays and problems and they don't understand why we get frustrated. I heard they really only do this to the expat teachers because they know we can't really protest because of the iqama issue.

PNU also has a habit of getting behind on their papework or losing it and we teachers suffer by not getting paid. For example, right now in nursing/ health sciences, there are 5 ESL teachers who haven't gotten paid SINCE MAY. I am a hundred percent serious. According to PNU they don't even exist - it's a huge school - so they can't get paid. The teachers will have to resubmit all their documents again and start over. Sounds unbelievable but it's absolutely true. Another teacher didn't get paid for 4 months and no one knows why but she didn't quit b/c she wanted to make sure she gets her money before she leaves.

It all boils down to paperwork I think.

The paperwork is the bane of our existence. It is the reason that Princess Nora University teachers actually cry at work. Management knows it, but they don't care.  They just keep adding more paperwork.

A great example of the paperwork craziness is the MEDICAL NOTES PROCEDURE FOR ABSENCES. We do this for every medical note absence. We have 300 students in 6 classes and get maybe 25 medical notes per week for these absences.

Please be informed of the procedure/ policy for keeping and documenting English students' students’ absence:

·       The teacher has to take the student’s medical or personal excuse(s) – make sure you take a copy, not the original, from students. (STUDENT HAS TO GO BACK AND MAKE A COPY IF IT IS AN ORIGINAL AND THEN BRING IT TO YOU ON ANOTHER DAY. YOU MAKE ANOTHER COPY YOURSELF FOR YOUR OWN RECORDS IF YOU WANT IT- THOUGH YOU HAVE NO COPIER OR PRINTER)

·       Remember to write your name, the section, the students’ name as well as her ID on the back. (YOU MUST LOOK THE ID IN A LIST OF 300 NAMES IF THE STUDENT DOESN'T REMEMBER HER ID OR REMEMBER TO WRITE IT, WHICH THEY USUALLY DON'T. STUDENTS CAN NEVER BE BOTHERED TO WRITE DOWN THEIR ID NUMBERS. JUST THIS PART TAKES AT LEAST 2 MINUTES PER NOTE, 25 PER WEEK)

·       Hand them to H... or M... to check if it is valid or not. (THIS IS IN ANOTHER BUILDING 20 MINUTES AWAY AT LEAST.)

·       We will send you an email to confirm and then you can change the CMA. (FOR EACH MEDICAL NOTE - ABOUT 20 PER WEEK.ALSO THE DATES ARE OFTEN HIJRI OR IN ARABIC, SO YOU WILL NEED TO DECIPHER THIS AND FIGURE IT OUT YOURSELF AND THEN WRITE IT DOWN YOURSELF - FOR 20 ABSENCES PER WEEK. THERE IS NO ONE TO HELP YOU AND NO ONE WHO WANTS TO)

·       Mark her present in the case that the excuse(s) is valid. (GO BACK AND DO THIS ON A SPREADSHEET THAT HAS 300 NAMES ON IT AND MAKE THE CHANGE FOR EACH DATE. THERE ARE NO DATES ON THE SPREADSHEET, SO YOU HAVE TO KEEP TRACK OF THE DATES ON YOUR OWN FOR EACH AND EVERY CLASS DAY. AND THERE ARE NO SECRETARIES TO DO ANY OF THIS)

·       H... or M... will keep the copy in a binder organized by teacher for archiving purposes. (SO IF YOU NEED IT OR WANT TO ADD TO IT, YOU WILL HAVE TO MAKE THE 20 MINUTE TREK TO THE OFFICE TO DO THIS, AFTER TEACHING 18 HOURS AND DOING GRADING AND DAILY& WEEKLY & MONTHLY ATTENDANCE PAPERWORK)

This is all absolutely true and not fantasy. This is why we have 10 hours of paperwork at home. This is why 7 teachers quit this year. This is why we all fantasize about quitting. This is what happens when you come to teach English in Saudi Arabia. This is what happens at PNU, the largest women's university in the world.