Read Me/Disclaimer

Read Me/Disclaimer: This is a non-political/socio-political blog. It's a running tale of my Saudi Arabian adventure, great, good, bad, and ugly. It is uncensored, and I don't really care what you think of it, read it or don't. I don't care. I did not decide to do this as a means to an end, but rather to document the means with which I occupied my time while waiting for my end... All that being said, I'm an American Expat in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The opportunity to help build this system and the salary that accompanied it were to good to pass up.-Geoff

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"The views presented here are just the views of some asshole named Geoff, they are not necessarily the views of my employer, my co-workers, my family or anybody else. First hand knowledge and second hand accounts were used to compile the information. These are not scientific facts and figures. These views are not necessarily supported, endorsed or even appreciated by the KSA the USA or any other country for that matter and the author makes absolutely no claim that they are."**

Friday, January 6, 2012

yeah! 100% pass rate...

Yeah right, in my wildest dreams could that happen...that doesn't even happen at the best or worst American schools.  In the last EMT-Basic course I taught, one in which 100% of students had books, 100% of the students spoke and comprehended English, and 98% had experience already...we had 5 dropouts, 2 failures, and of the rest that passed only 5 have tested...only 1 is now licensed...2 more are on the way...Despite these numbers, after the department head and other instructors "checked results for quality, and re-tested some students" we will report a 100% pass rate at the end of next week...WTF?  This is not what I was hired to do, everything about me, my resume, and my experience says that I was brought here to raise the bar, not lower it.

I've discovered the problem.  My MBA concentration is "sustainability", finding ways to make companies viable in perpetuity or if not in perpetuity, at least for the next 25 years or so...NOT the next five.  Instructors, dept heads and deans here from the other GCC countries are doing everything they can to not be sent home to an unstable country next year...they don't care if we produce a shit product, they don't care if the ministry of education shuts us down in 5 years, all they care about is keeping their jobs and feeding their families for the immediate future. 

Shit...That's almost understandable...

Problem Statement:  Instructors and other GCC locals will protect their jobs and salary at all costs including lying about student ability and tampering with grades...

Solutions:  
  • Possibility #1 Give instructors longer contracts with more comparable pay...
    • Some ARE lazy and will then slack off even further
    • NO such thing as honest communication here
  • Possibility #2 Verify all results with a third party
    • I like this one, it holds instructors to an unseen standard and forces them to make the best use of their time...this needs more thought...
Geoff

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