JEDDAH — With the crackdown on unregulated expatriates in the Kingdom continuing, many teachers have become temporarily unemployed. Teachers are told to stay home to avoid raids on schools. Many teachers and school principals who spoke to Saudi Gazette said most expatriate teachers refused to come to work saying their families were worried for them and that it was too big a risk for them to continue working until the situation became clear. On Thursday, many schools received text messages from the Ministry of Education asking them not to give in to rumors of raids and suspend classes. The ministry also informed them that procedures were under way, in coordination with the concerned agencies, to allow housewives to work as teachers. However, most male teachers and unmarried female teachers are still contemplating whether to work or stay home for another week. “When the raids happened at our school, all the foreign teachers gathered their stuff and ran off with their abayas,” said Samina Abbas (name changed), a Pakistani teacher at a private school in Jeddah. “The kids, especially the ones in kindergarten panicked and thought the school was on fire. Soon after, our principal assured them that everything was fine and the teachers had to go home due to a problem.” Another Indian teacher working at a private school told Saudi Gazette that her employer charged her SR70,000 to sponsor her four children after her husband passed away. The teacher, who chose to remain anonymous, said: “Every year I used to submit my papers for sponsorship change and they used to reject it. Now my headmistress told us all that she had no choice but to ask us all to resign if we did not transfer our sponsorship to the school. For me, it's a win-win situation. Finally, I will not be working or living illegally. My children were born in this country and there is nowhere else we would rather be.” Jalal Iqbal, a British teacher living in Jeddah, said: “The men just hid in the mosque of the learning center when the officials came. I mean we didn't know what to do. But the students knew what was going on and they are scared they might miss out on classes.” Zainab Abdullah, a British teacher working at a training institute in Jeddah, said: “My boss called me saying I should keep my abaya with me and be prepared to flee anytime the inspectors come. My family told me it is not worth the risk. I heard they cut up iqamas and if they take mine I can be deported before being able to transfer my sponsorship to the company. In fact, my boss told me they can only issue a certain number of iqamas so I am told to stay home for another week.”
