Jailed Teacher in Qatar!

overseasvet2
Posts: 191
Joined: Wed Jun 08, 2011 10:50 pm

Post by overseasvet2 »

I know Eric and he is a good man. There is no way he would not be doing what he can. Those who would jump to the conclusion that nothing is being done have no concept of diplomacy and no confidence in our profession.

These kinds of stories are very scary and should make teachers think twice about going to schools with a large percentage of rich, entitled kids. It is not just an issue in Qatar or even the region but the "wasta" factor seems more pervasive there. Similar stories have come out of Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. Let's not paint the ME all the same. It is a very diverse region and even within the countries there are immense differences between school cultures.
inman
Posts: 177
Joined: Wed Oct 26, 2011 11:10 am

Post by inman »

Just because the guy has been arrested doesn't mean he's guilty or going to jail. The case is being investigated. The police have a job and that is to investigate those reported to have broken the law, so if a country has laws against something and 3 people call the police to report witnessing someone breaking that law, then authorities do have an obligation to investigate. It's easy to say that this wouldn't happen in other places and with regard to the particular law being discussed, I agree, it wouldn't. But even in the EU, if three people called the police saying that they had witnessed someone breaking the law then the police would investigate. This COULD happen anywhere. There are many occasions of teachers being subject to claims of criminal behavior from students. Some are false, but unfortunately some are not. It's not nice if a false claim is made against you, but it's a reality of the job that if students make a claim against a teacher it will be looked into. That's why we spend so much time in paranoid states of mind trying to make everything as absolutely transparent as possible. You can only hope and pray that your admin will fight in your corner.
CaliPro
Posts: 209
Joined: Sun Dec 25, 2011 12:08 pm
Location: United States

Post by CaliPro »

How can the poster of said school be identified? Unless his real name is Parker so something. Could be any teacher at that school or even yet someone lying.

Pretty sad you get canned for something so trivial.

Ill keep that as a note not to say ANYTHING out of scope at school.
Mick Travis
Posts: 33
Joined: Fri Sep 14, 2012 4:09 pm
Location: Denmark

Qatar Academy

Post by Mick Travis »

We don't know the details of the case but it will be interesting to find out what happens to the teacher if it is simply his word against those of the students.

I would imagine it is not in the interest of the school or the Qatari authorities to have a foreign teacher jailed for years on a free speech/Islam issue. The decent compromise would see the teacher expelled from Qatar and hopefully the school can also do the right thing and give him a decent set of references, or at least hide his identity from the admin community so he can get hired someplace else.

It is rather ironic to note that Qatar Academy is accredited by the IBO for all three programmes. Might they perhaps consider reviewing this in light of what has happened?
shadowjack
Posts: 2138
Joined: Sat Oct 06, 2012 9:49 am

Post by shadowjack »

My heart goes out to the teacher in question. I have been in the region (and still am!) for 10 of the past 15 years and have seen a lot of changes. Sadly, some things just seem to linger on, and this is one of them.

I agree with NP - don't contact the school, revile it, etc. From what I know of the admin and people involved and having seen other situations at other schools, they are working to resolve it, but such work is best done behind the scenes. Anything that might smell of "losing face" in this part of the world simply will not fly. And doing what many of you have been encouraged to do will surely cause the Qatari authorities to 'lose face'.

In the end, if this situation is one which you feel you simply cannot tolerate, your best solution is to (a) never go to a country where this can happen; and (b) if you are in such a country, leave, thereby voting with your conscience.
shadowjack
Posts: 2138
Joined: Sat Oct 06, 2012 9:49 am

Post by shadowjack »

I might add that you should also start googling news stories about "criminals" who were "convicted" of murder or other horrendous crimes, whose DNA sample now exonerates them.

It seems that one of these fellows is about to be put to death in Texas.

Why am I including this tidbit of information?

Injustice happens daily, in every country of the world. Just not all of it is publicised. Ignorance can really be bliss, sometimes!
PsyGuy
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Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2011 9:51 am
Location: Northern Europe

Comment

Post by PsyGuy »

@miketravis

The IBO authorization process does not contain a criterion that would include censor a school based on local policies or laws. It is a curriculum compliance process. The IB inspectorate's worse sanction is what's called an advisory memorandum. Which is just an observational report that could be used in a judicial process by a government agency, it has no IBO consequences. The IB does not want to involve itself in political issues. It would detrimental to both their mission and their credibility.

@shadowjack

The greater injustice is your comparison and equivocation of "murder" to "inferred defamation", not all injustices are equal.
higgsboson
Posts: 150
Joined: Mon Jun 14, 2010 1:13 am

Post by higgsboson »

Overseasvet said: [quote]I know Eric and he is a good man. There is no way he would not be doing what he can. Those who would jump to the conclusion that nothing is being done have no concept of diplomacy and no confidence in our profession. [/quote]

It remains to be seen if Dr. Sands is "a good man" or not. How long does this guy have to sit in jail while Dr. Sands is assumed to be "doing something" to help out one of his people.

Is Dr. Sand's red-eyed from lack of sleep because one of his people is in jail? How long was this teacher bullied and did Dr. Sands know about it and do anything about it?

Maybe we shouldn't rush to call Dr. Sands a ball-less administrator but lets not assume he is out there fighting for this guy. Most admin I've met know where there bread is buttered and think of themselves first and their people like 4th or 5th.

I hope I'm wrong and Dr. Sands steps up for this guy.
Dredge
Posts: 123
Joined: Mon Feb 14, 2011 11:25 pm
Location: Three continents, mentally and physically

Post by Dredge »

What is interesting is that the school didn't have the foresight to see the poor reputation this would lead to with international teachers on a global level. This website alone is leaving them with enough bad press to turn away hundreds of wouldbe applicants.
AnnieT
Posts: 71
Joined: Sun Jul 08, 2012 7:37 pm

Post by AnnieT »

[quote="inman"]Just because the guy has been arrested doesn't mean he's guilty or going to jail. The case is being investigated. The police have a job and that is to investigate those reported to have broken the law, so if a country has laws against something and 3 people call the police to report witnessing someone breaking that law, then authorities do have an obligation to investigate. It's easy to say that this wouldn't happen in other places and with regard to the particular law being discussed, I agree, it wouldn't. But even in the EU, if three people called the police saying that they had witnessed someone breaking the law then the police would investigate. This COULD happen anywhere. There are many occasions of teachers being subject to claims of criminal behavior from students. Some are false, but unfortunately some are not. It's not nice if a false claim is made against you, but it's a reality of the job that if students make a claim against a teacher it will be looked into. That's why we spend so much time in paranoid states of mind trying to make everything as absolutely transparent as possible. You can only hope and pray that your admin will fight in your corner.[/quote]

The guy is in prison and will stay in prison until the Qatari legal system has had it's pound of flesh.
higgsboson
Posts: 150
Joined: Mon Jun 14, 2010 1:13 am

Post by higgsboson »

[/quote=Inman] This COULD happen anywhere. [quote]

No, this could only happen in the ME. You could get fired anywhere if you get on the wrong side of a spoiled student - that could happen anywhere. But only in a shit hole of a ME country like Qatar will they throw you in jail for pissing off a rich and spoiled brat.

I can just imagine the abuse this guy had to endure, probably counting the days to get out, and once he dared to open his mouth so it was off to jail he went. I had the same type of experiences in Kuwait. Arabs don't want teachers, they want timid servants who know their place.[/quote]
shadowjack
Posts: 2138
Joined: Sat Oct 06, 2012 9:49 am

Post by shadowjack »

HB - I can see many countries in the world something similar could happen - not just ME. If you are Western, you are largely free of such problems, but if you are Asian, you are at higher risk.
mamanaia
Posts: 54
Joined: Sun Nov 12, 2006 2:00 pm

Post by mamanaia »

It could happen in the US too. Just have the wrong kid accuse you of sexual misconduct or physical abuse because they were pissed about a grade. Even in the US, there could be dire consequences for the falsely accused.
WiseTeach
Posts: 69
Joined: Sun Jan 15, 2012 4:09 pm

Post by WiseTeach »

I am going to post this AGAIN... this school, the same one that did nothing to censure kids who were out of control and that is allowing a teacher to be jailed and charged with a crime which is not really a crime...

HAS TIES TO A PRESTIGIOUS US UNIVERSITY - TEXAS A&M

Surely someone who read these posts will illuminate the lovely provost that there is a potential pr landslide that may bode ill if someone with real power and pull doesn't step up to the plate and start remedying a situation gone awry.
emilyhurd
Posts: 50
Joined: Sat Dec 08, 2012 2:29 pm

Post by emilyhurd »

Doha Academy is not the school in question, as you stated in the previous email. Did you mean Qatar Academy?
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