'Euro Woes' Forcing French Teachers to Leave For Home

The decline in the value of the euro is leading to an exodus of teachers from a leading French school in Abu Dhabi, according to a report in the UAE daily The National.

Around 30 percent of the 120 teachers at Lycée Louis Massignon will be packing their bags and heading for home at the end of this month. Unlike most other schools in the UAE which pay staff in local currency the French school pay all teachers who are recruited from France in the embattled euro currency. Local hires are paid in dirhams.

A combination of factors including the euro’s recent decline, a salary freeze, lack of housing allowance and the rising cost of living has led to the teachers deciding to return to France.

The teachers approached the French embassy as well as the regulator ADEC for assistance. In a statement to The National ADEC confirmed that they had been approached by teachers and the principal at the school to locate an affordable “landlord or a property owner to help in renting out flats that are reasonably priced”.

“ADEC’s private schools and quality assurance sector is a regulator to private schools across the emirate of Abu Dhabi, thus the school and individual teachers are the ones responsible to search for flats or property developers,” said the statement.

There is a developing global crunch on the availability of high-quality teachers and the UAE is in increasing competition with countries such as Singapore, Thailand and Azerbaijan to attract top talent.