Which School

I have never taught at a Chewyfat school, but I have talked to several teachers who have had that misfortune. I have also talked to many of my students who used to go to Chewyfat schools before they left and went to a proper school.

First of all, many of the "teachers" at these so-called Chewyfat schools are not graduates and they do not have proper teaching certification. Of course the SABIS "schools" prefer to hire people who are not properly qualified, so that they can pay them less. At a recruitment fair, one principal of a SABIS school admitted to one of my colleagues that they only wanted to hire unqualified staff because proper teachers nearly always disagreed with the SABIS system.

Secondly, Chewyfat "schools" do not permit the parents to speak directly to the parents. My guess is that they do not want the parents to find out how uneducated their children's teachers really are.

Thirdly, good schools want to "stretch" the abilities of their most able students and give support to those students who are struggling. (This is usually called "differentiation".) In fact, this is against SABIS rules and teachers who do not stick rigidly to their instructions will be disciplined or sacked. If it says that you must be on page 33 at 11.30 on Monday morning, then you had better make sure that you are on page 33.

Fourthly, Chewyfat schools must use the SABIS curriculum materials and textbooks. These are often dull, outdated, inaccurate and uninspiring. Of course, sensible schools buy the best (and most appropriate) teaching materials they can find and they are not restricted to only one set of materials. You cannot buy SABIS teaching materials in any bookshop, probably because they are trash and no one wants to buy them.

Fifthly, teachers in Chewyfat schools are ordered by their superiors to discourage the students from asking questions, thinking for themselves and in any way disagreeing with anything their teachers may tell them. This is not education: this is indoctrination and brain-washing.

Sixthly, my Muslim friends tell me that the Qu'ran says that each child is the unique and special handiwork of Our Creator, so it is rather a pity that those in charge of the Chewyfat "schools" seem to know little or nothing about Islam.

I absolutely agree that Choueifat schools have a reputation for strict discipline. As you may have guessed, I am not a fan of the Choueifat schools and the SABIS system of education (if it can be called that), but nevertheless I concede that these schools do have a reputation for discipline and some parents think that this is very important.

Some British-style schools in Doha do not have such a reputation because the discipline in these schools is not good.

Park House, Doha English Speaking School and Compass International School all have good reputations and there have been many positive postings written about them on this forum. They follow the British Curriculum or an "international" curriculum that has a strong English flavour to it. The bad news, however, is that these schools are oversubscribed and sometimes it is difficult even to get a place on the waiting list, never mind an actual place for your child. Another problem is that when a school has too many pupils applying for too few places, there is a strong temptation to put up the school fees.

If I had any coice at all, I would never send a child of mine to a Choueifat school. I believe that students at Choueifat schools do indeed sit exams, including IGCSEs and A levels, but they are still awful schools and the SABIS system is educational garbage.

If you were to visit Park House, Compass or DESS, I think that you would find that the children there do work fairly hard, but they also have fun and enjoy being at their schools. The teachers, who are gaduates and have proper certification and training, usually enjoy their jobs and they use their ingenuity and their professional skills to make their lessons stimulating and their subjects interesting. I have never heard of a child who enjoyed being at a Choueifat "school", for all of the reasons I have already given.

The philosopher Martin Heidegger once said that in a child's imagination "...lies everything we call the life of the mind." Choueifat so-called "schools" do not seem encourage creativity or imagination, nor are the students allowed to ask questions, so maybe they are not really schools at all.

I suspect that the main reason that the parents are not permitted to communicate with the Choueifat teachers is because if this did indeed happen, then the parents would realise how stupid, unqualified, bored and fed up so many Choueifat teachers really are. (This is not surprising, given the poor salaries that the SABIS "schools" pay to their teachers.) Do you want someone who is unqualified, bored, uninspired, dull, useless and unenthusiastic to be teaching your child? If so, send your child straight away to the nearest Choueifat "school".

In their recent exams, my class all scored very high marks in their Islamic Studies and Arabic papers, but their marks for Maths and English were much lower. When I asked them about this disparity in their exam marks, the children said quite openly, "Oh, the Arabic and Islamic Studies exams are really easy. The teachers tell us which questions are coming up." Is this education?

Teachers who have little or no integrity will invariably set really easy exams because they want their students to score very high marks, so that it looks as though they, the teachers, are doing a good job. Teachers who do have integrity will set hard exams, so that only students who have worked hard and who have a real understanding of what they have been learning will be able to score high marks. Of course there is always the risk that some parents will not be happy if their children do not get amazingly high marks, but teachers who really believe in the value of education are prepared to accept this risk.

Have you discussed your son'e exam papers with your child's teacher at Choueifat? Have you seen his exam papers? I do not think so, as parents are not allowed to speak to their child's teacher. Why not, I wonder?