To review, most employers in Qatar pay for their employees' kids' schooling. Many "buy" spots at schools, which can mean they either pay the tuition for incoming students outright, put a down payment on potential slots, pay a fee to move their people's kids up the wait list, or some combination of the above. These financial ties between employers and schools are critical because there are not nearly enough schools for the amount of children there are here, particularly young children, so getting in to schools without employer arrangements can be virtually impossible. In our case, we work for the Qatar Foundation, which has several of it's own elementary and high schools and one specifically allocated for employees of the husband's hospital, so that is where our children attend. Which should be great news for us, because it meant that when we came, we had school slots waiting for the boys, so we didn't have to go very far into the excruciatingly difficult arena of waitlists and school assessments to try and get the boys in elsewhere (though we did apply to three other schools before we found out we had guaranteed slots).
However, as I wrote at the beginning of the school year, our school situation has been, shall we say, mercurial. Earlier this year, things were looking up, in theory: we had a new director, two new principals, a new assistant principal, new teachers, new support staff, and new hope. Yes, there were all kinds of hiccups and craziness and yes, we submitted applications to new schools for next year, but things were getting better, in tiny, tiny increments. And we decided that things were good enough for this year and might, just might be good enough for next year if we kept involved and actively following what was happening and volunteering (not really a thing here, but we try to do it anyway).
And then I went to parent conferences last week, and we got the rug pulled out from under us. Oh, the conferences with the boys' teachers were great: they loved the boys, the boys are thriving in their classes, right on target in all subjects, ahead in a few, lots of improvement in controlling emotions, in J's case, and hands, in E's case, all good news. However, while talking to a few other teachers during the breaks between conferences, I learned the following:
1. Our new director, he who was passionately advocating on our behalf for new facilities and expanded services, he who hired all the new administrators and teachers, he who hand-picked the whole leadership team, he who just came aboard at the beginning of this school year...had been offered another job in the system and was taking it, effective in a few weeks. Dang it! I mean, I am sure they made him an offer he couldn't refuse and he will be great at the role they've given him, but now that leaves us without a director, again. Back in another search for a leader, again. Still stuck in the same facilities and having to start the argument/persuasion for why we should be getting a bigger and better place right back at the beginning. Honestly, it's hard not to feel betrayed. Word on the street is that in the interim, after he leaves, the whole administrative team will move up a notch, making the current elementary principal, whom I like quite a lot, the new acting and/or permanent director, but that's just a rumor at this point.
2. Worse yet, all schools under our ultimate employer's umbrella have been told to cut their budgets for next year by 35%. See, recently the price of oil has dropped. A little over a year ago, in September 2013, crude oil was over $110 per barrel. In July 2014, that number was hovering around $110 per barrel. To date, that price is closer to $75. What that means for an oil-based economy like Qatar is that everyone starts going a whole lotta CRAZY! Budgets are being slashed across the board, particularly at places run by the government, like the husband's hospital and the boys' school. But there is no rhyme or reason for the cuts, or at least there doesn't seem to be any for the school cuts. Get rid of a third of your budget. Poof! It's hard to imagine a way in which these cuts do not affect my children. I don't see how the school arrives at these cuts without larger class sizes, fewer support services, fewer extra-curriculars, fewer teacher aides, and really, really stressed teachers. As it was, the school has felt like it has been held together with scotch tape and chopsticks and now they want to take away even that!
So, now we have to enter the world of applying to other schools in earnest. Our first choice is the first choice of many, the best American school in town, but we do not have any employer sponsorship at that school, nor do we have any siblings already attending, which puts us right at the bottom of the waitlist. Another, newer, Finnish international school looks good, with shorter days and lots of playing outside, but is 45 minutes away on a good morning, so to go there we really would need to move. Our employer HAS bought spots at another American school that is in another town entirely, also a good 30-40 minutes away as the crow flies above traffic, so we would probably need to move to attend that school as well. Another American IB school is close by, actually, but they aren't accepting applications for next year for E's grade (Kindergarten) until the end of February, by which time I would like to know already, thank you, though of course we'll apply anyway, given the curriculum and the location. There are a few other international schools we could try, but the curricula are so different in each that I shudder to think how the boys will adjust, PLUS there is a law on the books here that once you start in an American school or a British school, you cannot switch from one to the other. We can sort of get around that if we look for IB schools, but those are just as difficult to get into.
And it just makes me mad that we have to do this all over again! I'm so disappointed, disenchanted, and disgruntled with the current situation. We've got a previously scheduled parents' meeting at our school tonight to discuss the "three year plan," and I'm not sure how they are going to get through their presentations without being knocked off the stage by a crushing sense of their own futility. I'm not sure how I will sit through the Q&A session without getting far too direct and most likely too hostile. Give me strength!
However, as I wrote at the beginning of the school year, our school situation has been, shall we say, mercurial. Earlier this year, things were looking up, in theory: we had a new director, two new principals, a new assistant principal, new teachers, new support staff, and new hope. Yes, there were all kinds of hiccups and craziness and yes, we submitted applications to new schools for next year, but things were getting better, in tiny, tiny increments. And we decided that things were good enough for this year and might, just might be good enough for next year if we kept involved and actively following what was happening and volunteering (not really a thing here, but we try to do it anyway).
And then I went to parent conferences last week, and we got the rug pulled out from under us. Oh, the conferences with the boys' teachers were great: they loved the boys, the boys are thriving in their classes, right on target in all subjects, ahead in a few, lots of improvement in controlling emotions, in J's case, and hands, in E's case, all good news. However, while talking to a few other teachers during the breaks between conferences, I learned the following:
1. Our new director, he who was passionately advocating on our behalf for new facilities and expanded services, he who hired all the new administrators and teachers, he who hand-picked the whole leadership team, he who just came aboard at the beginning of this school year...had been offered another job in the system and was taking it, effective in a few weeks. Dang it! I mean, I am sure they made him an offer he couldn't refuse and he will be great at the role they've given him, but now that leaves us without a director, again. Back in another search for a leader, again. Still stuck in the same facilities and having to start the argument/persuasion for why we should be getting a bigger and better place right back at the beginning. Honestly, it's hard not to feel betrayed. Word on the street is that in the interim, after he leaves, the whole administrative team will move up a notch, making the current elementary principal, whom I like quite a lot, the new acting and/or permanent director, but that's just a rumor at this point.
2. Worse yet, all schools under our ultimate employer's umbrella have been told to cut their budgets for next year by 35%. See, recently the price of oil has dropped. A little over a year ago, in September 2013, crude oil was over $110 per barrel. In July 2014, that number was hovering around $110 per barrel. To date, that price is closer to $75. What that means for an oil-based economy like Qatar is that everyone starts going a whole lotta CRAZY! Budgets are being slashed across the board, particularly at places run by the government, like the husband's hospital and the boys' school. But there is no rhyme or reason for the cuts, or at least there doesn't seem to be any for the school cuts. Get rid of a third of your budget. Poof! It's hard to imagine a way in which these cuts do not affect my children. I don't see how the school arrives at these cuts without larger class sizes, fewer support services, fewer extra-curriculars, fewer teacher aides, and really, really stressed teachers. As it was, the school has felt like it has been held together with scotch tape and chopsticks and now they want to take away even that!
So, now we have to enter the world of applying to other schools in earnest. Our first choice is the first choice of many, the best American school in town, but we do not have any employer sponsorship at that school, nor do we have any siblings already attending, which puts us right at the bottom of the waitlist. Another, newer, Finnish international school looks good, with shorter days and lots of playing outside, but is 45 minutes away on a good morning, so to go there we really would need to move. Our employer HAS bought spots at another American school that is in another town entirely, also a good 30-40 minutes away as the crow flies above traffic, so we would probably need to move to attend that school as well. Another American IB school is close by, actually, but they aren't accepting applications for next year for E's grade (Kindergarten) until the end of February, by which time I would like to know already, thank you, though of course we'll apply anyway, given the curriculum and the location. There are a few other international schools we could try, but the curricula are so different in each that I shudder to think how the boys will adjust, PLUS there is a law on the books here that once you start in an American school or a British school, you cannot switch from one to the other. We can sort of get around that if we look for IB schools, but those are just as difficult to get into.
And it just makes me mad that we have to do this all over again! I'm so disappointed, disenchanted, and disgruntled with the current situation. We've got a previously scheduled parents' meeting at our school tonight to discuss the "three year plan," and I'm not sure how they are going to get through their presentations without being knocked off the stage by a crushing sense of their own futility. I'm not sure how I will sit through the Q&A session without getting far too direct and most likely too hostile. Give me strength!
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