Teachers to lose jobs for lack of competence

JEDDAH: The Ministry of Education is firing teachers previously employed through the Jadara program, claiming they do not have the required classified specialties.
While the teachers have been attending to their jobs, the Ministries of Civil Service and Education have denied responsibility for an error in employment procedures that have now led to the cancellation of employment agreements.
A number of graduates of the Arab Open University, majoring in learning difficulties and education for students with mental disabilities, have objected to the decision. They said that they had applied for the positions via the Jadara program, and were selected after obtaining necessary points and competencies, and passing the personal interview.
Some had even started work at their respective schools, despite suffering from high transportation expenses, they explained.
“After three days of working at the school located in Al-Sibya, the manager told us he received an order to direct us to the Department of Education in Sibya,” said graduate Murtada Al-Ali. “I went with my colleague, also a graduate of the Arab Open University, to the said department, where we were directed to go to the Ministry of Education in Riyadh.”
He said, “We were shocked to hear from an official at the ministry that we are not specialized and classified accordingly at the ministry, and were wrongly employed.”
He said they objected to the claim and confirmed the university is one of the strongest, as evidenced by the fact that other graduates with the same specialties have been employed as educators and have not been suspended.
As Al-Ali and several other colleagues are facing the problems, many have resigned from their jobs even before taking up their positions.
“If there was a mistake, it is not our fault and the ministry has to bear the error, especially as they met us and we entered the process and succeeded,” he said. According to Jihad Al-Said, another graduate, the Arab Open University is accredited with the ministry. “Our other colleagues, graduated from the university are working in the education sector,” he said.
“The Ministry of Education has shifted the responsibility for the faulty decision to the Ministry of Civil Service, while the latter has acquitted itself of these accusations,” he said. “Ultimately, the Ministry of Civil Service employed us, while the Ministry of Education fired us.”