I have never taught at Al Maha School, but I did find these comments that are below posted on a website called The International Schools' Review.
_______________________________________________________
Comments: This school is a total sham. I was one of 15 new Western teachers arriving here to teach Islamic children and for the first time, the school had a large Western Teaching staff.
We were greeted by a Western Head who was friendly and Supportive. 2 Days into the first term, we were told she had been dismissed and we were refused a reason why. They have dismissed 8 teachers/managers in 3 weeks since. When I arrived, I was asked to teach the UK curriculum. I was told the pupils needed an English specialist. I know this sounds too unbelievable but there was not one single book in the school for KS3. I was told I could not teach Shakespeare or anything with the word 'pig', I could not read a book with magic, fairies, Harry Potter especially, girls having a relationship with boys, no books on girls dancing and absolutely no films of any kind because it would have music in the credits.
Primary were told under no circumstances were they to sign or clap or play an instrument. We were not allowed to say 'silly' because it may offend and I was not under any circumstances allowed to say anything about Christianity. Teachers wearing a cross were told to take it off. We were then told our dress code was to be changed and all teachers must now wear skirts to the ankle, that our elbows were not to show and we were only to wear lose fitting clothes as well as making sure our tops covered our bottoms. It just got worse. I was told that I had given the pupils unacceptable grades. In the secondary, they appointed a muslim part time French teacher with no experience (except she was muslim) to literally run the secondary as it had no Head or Deputy and there were no Heads of Departments. I pointed out to the acting Principal that I could not teach GCSE unless I taught Shakespeare. I was then told to just teach part of the curriculum instead, but not all.
I also found out that I was the 9th teacher they had in a year and 21 had been dismissed in 2009. I spoke with the acting Head and asked if I could buy a book for the following term and I was told that last year, they followed a study text, but a parent had noticed that there was a pig mentioned in it so all the teachers were instructed to rip out pages thought to be anti Islamic or insulting to Islam leaving just 4 pages remaining. Obviously, they couldn't teach with the book, so it was discarded. At least this explained why there was no books and I realized my request for a book was going to be denied unless it was Islamic which meant I could not teach literature.
Every new Western teacher was now vulnerable after 8 had been sacked and I was eventually called to the office. I had been teaching 'Persuasion in the media' and mentioned that in the Middle East, they sell a product called 'Fair and lovely', a facial cream for women which equates success with a white skin yet the most powerful man in the world (Obama) was Black and did not have to be white to be a success. I was told I had been 'Anti Islamic' by mentioning an advert. I realized there was no way I could argue this point and decided to just accept my dismissal.
If you teach at this school, you will be given fantastic accommodation, you will receive a fairly good salary, but you will not actually teach. You will also be expected to fix grades and under no circumstances will you give a pupil less than level 1 (they have introduced the APP). This is despite the fact most students can hardly speak English or write it. They work hard, but lack the necessary skills and they were a really lovely bunch of kids, if very spoilt. I was told they would expect me to fix grades, but I decided that I would just give them the grade they deserved, rather than wanted, and apparently, that and the French teacher come Head of secondary resulted in my downfall.
Do not work at this school if you have any western qualities because you will only end up being either sacked or run off in the night despite the fantastic accommodation. Also, under no circumstances are you to drink. We were one of the few schools who were not allowed a drink license and it was immediate dismissal if you did, nor was it allowed to be consumed on the compound. We were also told not to be in an apartment alone with a man as this is considered 'Haram' and we had to adhere to Islamic principles in and out of school.
I have never taught at Al Maha School, but I did find these comments that are below posted on a website called The International Schools' Review.
_______________________________________________________
Comments: This school is a total sham. I was one of 15 new Western teachers arriving here to teach Islamic children and for the first time, the school had a large Western Teaching staff.
We were greeted by a Western Head who was friendly and Supportive. 2 Days into the first term, we were told she had been dismissed and we were refused a reason why. They have dismissed 8 teachers/managers in 3 weeks since. When I arrived, I was asked to teach the UK curriculum. I was told the pupils needed an English specialist. I know this sounds too unbelievable but there was not one single book in the school for KS3. I was told I could not teach Shakespeare or anything with the word 'pig', I could not read a book with magic, fairies, Harry Potter especially, girls having a relationship with boys, no books on girls dancing and absolutely no films of any kind because it would have music in the credits.
Primary were told under no circumstances were they to sign or clap or play an instrument. We were not allowed to say 'silly' because it may offend and I was not under any circumstances allowed to say anything about Christianity. Teachers wearing a cross were told to take it off. We were then told our dress code was to be changed and all teachers must now wear skirts to the ankle, that our elbows were not to show and we were only to wear lose fitting clothes as well as making sure our tops covered our bottoms. It just got worse. I was told that I had given the pupils unacceptable grades. In the secondary, they appointed a muslim part time French teacher with no experience (except she was muslim) to literally run the secondary as it had no Head or Deputy and there were no Heads of Departments. I pointed out to the acting Principal that I could not teach GCSE unless I taught Shakespeare. I was then told to just teach part of the curriculum instead, but not all.
I also found out that I was the 9th teacher they had in a year and 21 had been dismissed in 2009. I spoke with the acting Head and asked if I could buy a book for the following term and I was told that last year, they followed a study text, but a parent had noticed that there was a pig mentioned in it so all the teachers were instructed to rip out pages thought to be anti Islamic or insulting to Islam leaving just 4 pages remaining. Obviously, they couldn't teach with the book, so it was discarded. At least this explained why there was no books and I realized my request for a book was going to be denied unless it was Islamic which meant I could not teach literature.
Every new Western teacher was now vulnerable after 8 had been sacked and I was eventually called to the office. I had been teaching 'Persuasion in the media' and mentioned that in the Middle East, they sell a product called 'Fair and lovely', a facial cream for women which equates success with a white skin yet the most powerful man in the world (Obama) was Black and did not have to be white to be a success. I was told I had been 'Anti Islamic' by mentioning an advert. I realized there was no way I could argue this point and decided to just accept my dismissal.
If you teach at this school, you will be given fantastic accommodation, you will receive a fairly good salary, but you will not actually teach. You will also be expected to fix grades and under no circumstances will you give a pupil less than level 1 (they have introduced the APP). This is despite the fact most students can hardly speak English or write it. They work hard, but lack the necessary skills and they were a really lovely bunch of kids, if very spoilt. I was told they would expect me to fix grades, but I decided that I would just give them the grade they deserved, rather than wanted, and apparently, that and the French teacher come Head of secondary resulted in my downfall.
Do not work at this school if you have any western qualities because you will only end up being either sacked or run off in the night despite the fantastic accommodation. Also, under no circumstances are you to drink. We were one of the few schools who were not allowed a drink license and it was immediate dismissal if you did, nor was it allowed to be consumed on the compound. We were also told not to be in an apartment alone with a man as this is considered 'Haram' and we had to adhere to Islamic principles in and out of school.