Northern Ireland teachers in Qatar: ‘We're 25 and middle management. A lot of friends at home are still sub teaching'
When her alarm goes off at 5.30am, Emma Ruddy wakes to sunlight peeking through the curtains in her
Qatar
apartment. The
Co Down
-born teacher looks out on to the blue waters of Lusail marina from her bedroom window; directly below is an infinity pool.
'It's an early start but when you pull the blind open and see that view, it's an instant mood booster,' she says, beaming.
It is a vista far removed from the Holylands student area of
Belfast
, where she once shared a house that had 'little bits of mould and damp in our rooms' and broken heating.
Ruddy (25) is among a growing number of Northern graduates opting to move to the Middle East for work and a new life. Tax-free salaries, perpetual sunshine (it rains for about a week each year) and free accommodation are tempting newly qualified teachers away from home.
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The package enticements – free healthcare is also offered – have led Ruddy and her friend and colleague Niamh McAleer to agree an extension to their contract at a school in the coastal city of Lusail, the second largest after Doha.
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A €2,000 refund for teaching graduates may just go towards their flight to Australia
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Today, the pair are speaking to The Irish Times from outside their classrooms during a free period; they had a 6.40am start will finish at 2.30pm. It is midmorning and 38 degrees but they look relaxed, wearing long-sleeved tops in the air-conditioned building.
Platters of Greek food are being prepared behind them for school assembly, with dozens of children dressed in traditional Greek costumes for the day's theme.
McAleer, who grew up on Boa Island, at the northern end of Lough Erne in Co Fermanagh, initially signed up for a short-term job after graduating from St Mary's University College, a teacher training college in west Belfast, three years ago.
'When I came out to Qatar, I always thought it would be for one year. I've now signed on for my fourth year, I've loved it so much,' says McAleer, who shares the apartment with Ruddy.
Northen teachers Niamh McAleer and Emma Ruddy. Of the 76 teaching staff at their school, almost 30 are Irish, mainly from the North
'You're on a timetable with set subjects. You might have an Arabic teacher for your second lesson, meaning they will come into your class and take your children. You'll have 50 minutes for prep time or to take a breather. So I have three free periods today; I've time to prepare lessons and courses for next week.
'We start early but there's so much to do in the evening. We go to the beach, the pool, jet-ski – there's so many water sports – and the food is amazing. Whereas at home, you're not finishing until 5pm and your evening is done. Because the days are longer [here], you tend to fill them more.'
Making the move was a 'no-brainer' for the pair after they failed to secure permanent teaching jobs in Northern Ireland, according to Ruddy. The North's education sector has been beset by funding cuts for more than a decade, leading to teachers taking industrial action over pay and conditions.
'There was a bit of a whisper around college about Doha for a while. My brother had moved out and a couple of others the year above us,' says Ruddy.
'Towards the end of uni, you start to realise that you might have to go sub teaching. Having a job with a tax-free salary is one of the main benefits out here. Accommodation is paid for too. If you were getting a house in Dublin or Belfast, you have to pay your deposit and rent.
'Waking up in the sunshine, having an earlier start and an earlier finish with work, was automatic appeal.'
Prof Peter Finn, who heads St Mary's University College, first noticed the emerging trend in 2016 when a company that owns schools in Qatar 'found their way to our Open Day on the Falls Road'.
When these people eventually come home, just think of the competencies and the insights they will bring to work as teachers on their return ... These graduates have lived with Islam for the last three years and understand it in a very positive way
—
Prof Peter Finn
'The story goes that at the graduation that summer, I was going around shaking hands, asking where they were going and I heard 'Qatar'. So I let one go, and then after about six, I thought, 'there's something going on here that I need to know about',' he says.
Finn went to Qatar last year to visit the school where more than 20 of his former students had worked. One of the first to approach him was Niamh McAleer.
'This young woman from Boa Island came bounding toward me, and it was just the incongruity of the situation. She was as natural. That's what I really liked – she was completely and absolutely at home at where she was.'
While concerns have been raised about increasing numbers of Northern graduates working abroad, Finn points to the benefits.
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More than 4,600 Irish teachers working abroad as schools at home struggle with staff shortages - study
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'When these people eventually come home, just think of the competencies and the insights they will bring to work as teachers on their return. We're now living in a multicultural Ireland.
'Can you imagine their understanding of Islam compared to the understanding of the average man on the street? These graduates have lived with Islam for the last three years and understand it in a very positive way.'
Missing her family is the biggest downside for McAleer and she travels home up to four times a year during term leave. She admits her parents were 'a bit hesitant' about the move.
'Then they came out to visit me and saw how settled I was,' she says.
Accusations of human rights abuses and violation of migrant workers before
Qatar hosting the 2022 World Cup
dogged the country throughout the tournament. Religious and cultural differences were also a concern for the two friends before their departure.
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More than a million call on Fifa to finally compensate migrant workers in Qatar
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'We were apprehensive at the beginning but became familiar with the customs very quickly. It's really only if you're going to certain places, like a mosque or school or cultural areas, then you know you have to cover your shoulders and knees,' Ruddy says.
A visit by Ruddy's parents during her first year resulted in them leaving their own jobs and moving out; her father – a vice-principal in Co Down for 30 years – is now a principal at a large school and her mother works for an Irish company remotely.
Sport is a passion for McAleer, a former player with St Joesph's GAC in Ederney, Co Fermanagh, and she joined Qatar GAA on arrival. Training is twice a week, with up to 100 people attending at 8am on Friday mornings (the school weekends are Friday and Saturday).
We both got head-of-year jobs recently, so you do have the opportunity for career development. A lot of our friends are still sub teaching – that's three years on from graduating
—
Niamh McAleer
Ruddy, who grew up in Newry, had never played Gaelic football but signed up; tournaments regularly take them to Dubai, a 30-minute plane journey away.
'There is a big Irish community out here now. At weekends, you have football, camogie, hurling, Irish language committees and coffee mornings,' she says.
Of the 76 teaching staff at their school, almost 30 are Irish and mainly from the North. There has also been a recent influx of graduates from the Republic.
'It sounds as if we only socialise with Irish people, but we've met people from all over the world,' laughs McAleer. 'People have the mindset of 'let's travel'. So on your March or October midterm holidays, you do travel.' Zanzibar, Bali, South Africa, Abu Dhabi and Oman have been among their trips. 'Because Dubai is so close, we'll go there for the weekend,' says Ruddy.
Job promotions have cemented their decision to remain for at least another year.
'We both got head-of-year jobs recently, so you do have the opportunity for career development. We're 25 years old and now middle management in our school,' says McAleer. 'A lot of our friends are still sub teaching – that's three years on from graduating.'
Finishing their week, the pair are making plans for the weekend now that the football season is over.
Brunch lasts from 12.30pm to 4pm on a Friday, says Ruddy with a smile.
'At home you get up in the winter, it's cold, and have to defrost your car. It's lovely to wake up now, throw on your swimwear, hop in the lift and go down to the pool.
'It was the job security in Qatar that drew us – and then of course the lifestyle. It's hard to leave that.'
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