Sharjah: The number of teaching staff over the retirement age of 60 still working in Sharjah Educational Zone has reached 67, education officials have confirmed.
And the older, more experienced pedagogues are still chalking blackboards due to an urgent need for them amid a growing number of resignations of colleagues in the school system.
“The zone has received more than 48 resignations by different school principals, assistants, and tutors, which have been studied closely. A few resigned for personal reasons like raising a family, while some others found better placements. Some resigned after deciding to go back to their home countries,” Mona Suhail, deputy director of the Sharjah Educational Zone, said.
Mona noted that workers in the faculty of education, who have reached the age of 60, are well experienced and trained.
“The educational zone is making efforts to fill teacher vacancies in various schools,” she said.
The zone has been preparing for the new school year extensively with the support of the Ministry of Public Works, which has carried out a comprehensive maintenance programme for most schools in Sharjah. Sharjah Educational Zone is opening new schools to welcome almost 168,654 pupils of different age groups in the upcoming year.
The Educational Zone has instructed government and private schools to submit resignations in February of each year so that the procedure of providing end-of-service benefits can be streamlined. Teachers cannot withdraw resignations after a month from their submission, she said..
Mona said she is glad that the school year is starting with such a solid grounding, asserting that schools will be completely ready to receive the pupils.
The zone is coordinating with Emirates Transport and Service Corporation to ensure the compatibility of buses allocated to each school with the number of pupils and their residence sites.
“The zone tries its best to provide an appropriate and safe environment for students,” Mona added.
Nawal Al Ramahi is a trainee at Gulf News
