UAE | Education

Emirati student in New Zealand feels persecuted

Emirati student Asma Al Yamahi has told Gulf News she is now suffering a backlash from people upset over the sacking of lecturer Dr Paul Buchanan.

  • By Daniel Bardsley, Staff Reporter
  • Published: 23:08 August 8, 2007
  • Gulf News

  • Emirati student Asma is studying for an MA at Auckland University. She says she is being blamed for lecturer's sacking.
  • Image Credit: Supplied Picture

Dubai: Emirati student Asma Al Yamahi has told Gulf News she is now suffering a backlash from people upset over the sacking of lecturer Dr Paul Buchanan.

Buchanan was fired by Auckland University because of an e-mail he sent Asma after she asked for an assignment deadline to be extended following her father's death.

The sacking of the politics lecturer has received heavy publicity, and some residents there have taken the view that he was unfairly dismissed, causing Asma to question whether she wants to stay in New Zealand.

Asma, who is studying for an MA at Auckland University, said she had recently moved accommodation because she no longer felt safe where she had been living.

"He is saying [in interviews]: 'This is a very bad thing for my career and I cannot work in New Zealand anymore,'" Asma, 25, told Gulf News by telephone from New Zealand.

Transferring

"Some people hate me because of what happened to Paul Buchanan. People are blaming me. They are saying: 'Why did you do that? Where will we find another supervisor?' Now I feel unsafe to visit the campus."

She said that while she had found most people in New Zealand to be "very friendly", she now felt like "a stranger in a different country".

"I am thinking of transferring to my country rather than studying New Zealand politics," said the University of Al Ain graduate, whose family lives in Fujairah.

In his e-mail to Asma, sent at the end of May, Buchanan said he had been generous to the Emirati student up until then and would not grant her request for an extension to her essay deadline.

Click here to read the full text of the email sent by Dr Paul Buchanan

He told Asma she was a badly performing student and even questioned whether her father had died. Buchanan later apologised by e-mail for what he had written, but Asma approached the university's mediation service to complain about the initial e-mail, leading to the sacking.

Buchanan, 52, was born in New York and taught in Arizona and Florida before moving to New Zealand a decade ago. In an interview with the New Zealand Herald, the expert in international security admitted he should not have sent the e-mail to Asma.

Poor quality

He said earlier that day he had argued with a colleague, Associate Professor Steve Hoadley, over the "poor quality" of some overseas students taking his classes.

Buchanan felt many students had inadequate English skills and little prior knowledge of the subjects they were studying.

"It was hurting us in our graduate classes because these people were badly underprepared and in some cases had no background in political science whatsoever," Buchanan said.

"It's extremely hard to teach at graduate level when you have people who literally do not know the language of instruction."

Buchanan told the New Zealand Herald that when he wrote the controversial e-mail he was facing an end to funding for the New Zealand Centre for Latin American Studies, of which he was acting director, and was recovering from bowel surgery.

Gulf News was unable to contact Buchanan.



Your comments


It was right for the University of Auckland to sack the lecturer as he offended the lady. It is not suitable for a man who is 52 years old to write a letter to Asma in this hideous way. Everbody has feelings and legal rights in this world and if those limits are crossed there sould be ways of prosecuting the offenders.
Faisal
Hamilton,New Zealand
Posted: August 09, 2007, 11:59

Buchanan whines and moans and wants people to forgive him for his mistakes, but showed no mercy to the student. A classic case of extreme double standards coupled with total insensitivity towards students and no respect to his colleagues. The role of a professor is to guide and lead students not just teach. If he is expecting all students to know everything, why are they in university then? He got what he deserved.
Ali
Dubai,UAE
Posted: August 09, 2007, 11:50

The e-mail Professor Buchanan sent the student was cruel and unnecessary. If he hadn't wanted to give her the extension, he could have just written one sentence stating his refusal. There was absolutely no need for him to lash out at her like that and make such pointed, inappropriate comments. It sounds to me as though this man truly had something against international students and was taking it out on her. At any rate, the e-mail was completely uncalled for and I think he deserved to be fired. I also hope he is not hired anywhere else, for the sake of students everywhere.
Caroline
New York,United States
Posted: August 09, 2007, 11:47

A teacher is supposed to impart knowledge to students who have the eagerness to learn no matter how dumb or low quality they might be. This is not about trying to get better graduate results but more about training and teaching people about a subject. I think the lecturer has made a very grave mistake here. Its a disgrace to the education establishments and teachers.
Chris
Dubai,UAE
Posted: August 09, 2007, 10:22

Teachers are role models of any society and hold great responsibility over their shoulder of imparting the knowledge. The words used by Paul Buchanan in his capacity are highly unacceptable. Teachers are there to motivate learning, and this attitude of Paul Buchanan not only demotivates a student but also hints partial attitude.
Aysha
Abu Dhabi,UAE
Posted: August 09, 2007, 10:10

How very sad for Asma that she was and is being treated in such a way. The teacher deserved to be punished as what a heartless thing to say to someone who has just lost a parent and also very unprofessional in my opinion. Asma should come study in UK, especially my town of Brighton. She would love it and the people.
Tahani
Brighton,England
Posted: August 09, 2007, 09:53

I belive both are at fault, Buchanan shouldn't have sent such harsh e-mail in the first place and Asma shouldn't have complained the matter direcly to management without further checking the matter with Buchanan. These matters could've been solved in a more structural manner. Buchanan didn't need to sacked and Asma wouldn't have needed to stop her studies.
Fadhel
Abu Dhabi,U.A.E
Posted: August 09, 2007, 09:26

The university management did the right thing. It was deplorable what he wrote to grief- stricken Asma. The professor should know that most of the foreign universities generate operating cost by charging very high tuition fee from foreign students. This is a very lucrative source of funds from them, whereas local students are charged minimal tuition fees. Mr. Buchanan?s salary may also come from the foreign student channel. And despite all, a professor of his calibre, who is teaching Political Science, should be more politically polite.
Rahman
Dubai,UAE
Posted: August 09, 2007, 09:21

I hope this professor doesn't get to teach anywhere in the world now. He is a disgrace to the entire education community, and people supporting him are no better than him. Asma, you have our wholehearted support.
Omar
Dubai,UAE
Posted: August 09, 2007, 09:20

That is the dirtiest email I have read - Dr. Paul deserves to be sacked and further humiliated in public. The world is in a bad state with violence is because of immoral racist people like Dr. (doesn't deserve this title) Paul. The people who call this sacking unfair - get an education on morals.
Donna
Toronto,Canada
Posted: August 09, 2007, 09:14

It?s a correct decision on part of the university to sack the professor. This is unprofessional behaviour. Instead of taunting the student, he should work on his ability to cope with students, especially international students. What?s the use of teaching people who already know?
Abbas
Abu Dhabi,UAE
Posted: August 09, 2007, 09:11

That email is just plain cruel. As I was reading the article I thought maybe the university was too harsh to fire the guy. But after I read his reply to her, I'm sure he deserves to be sacked. This is no way to dismiss a request. I've worked in a university for a number of years, and we faced such situations; his reply is plain cruel, senseless, and uncalled for.
Khaled
Abu Dhabi,UAE
Posted: August 09, 2007, 09:11

Miserable, indifferent swaying towards racial bias. Everything a teacher should NOT be.
Arshad
Sharjah,UAE
Posted: August 09, 2007, 09:08

I don't see any thing rude in the professor?s letter. He has all the right to explain his opinions to students, especially if he sees that they are not in the right place. In my opinion the professor saw a lot of things from his student through the semesters which made him write this letter to her. I don't think any one with a PhD will write something baseless.
Hani
Dubai,UAE
Posted: August 09, 2007, 09:05

I am amazed to see a professor writing these words! I think that any one who joins universities abroad is well assessed as they do not just accept people with no appropriate background. Plus, people basically join such programs to get qualified!! He should have given gentle advice in case she needs to practice language or other. I think the real problem is that we do not have adequate level of education in our countries and we have to seek education abroad for the myth of being worldwide accredited!
Dany
Abu Dhabi,UAE
Posted: August 09, 2007, 09:05

It does seem from the e-mail that the professor wrote to his student that he despised her because of some cultural issues. It seems he has some grudge towards her because of her ethnicity.
Sawmya
Abu Dhabi,UAE
Posted: August 09, 2007, 09:02

"...culturally driven and preying on some sort of Western liberal guilt..." ??! A very strong statement - does this not reek of racism? Paul G Buchanan deserved to be sacked.
Bina
Abu Dhabi,UAE
Posted: August 09, 2007, 08:49

The lecturer was really sick. He should not have done that. But I think New Zealand is not the appropriate place for studying in such environment of discriminations. I am also a scholarship from UAE. I am studying there as well and I suffered from the same thing but I managed it very quickly. Anyway I passed my first semester and hope to go back home safe; me and my friend, Asma.
Ranya
Auckland,New Zealand
Posted: August 09, 2007, 08:48

The "professor" deserves to be fired. He sounds like a racist and a xenophobe. He makes a lot of stereotypes and derogatory statements towards foreign born students. On top of that, he insults her intelligence and belittles her father?s death. The university made the right decision. If they had kept him, he would only further tarnish the university?s reputation and professionalism.
George
Washington DC,USA
Posted: August 09, 2007, 08:34

This is horrible...No matter how poor a student is at studying, it doesn?t mean that a professor has the right to write such nonsense. The very fact that he questions her father?s death just reflects how shallow his thinking is about other cultures and students that don?t excel above 'his' expectations. To all the professors, please, we do not come with in-grained knowledge, we seek it from you and that is why you stand responsible to teach us, not look down upon us if we don?t understand....You were once a student too...
Sue
Dubai,UAE
Posted: August 09, 2007, 08:32

It?s really bad that he got sacked. You can see in his email that she is very bad in her performance. The mistake is, he sent an email. This is Auckland University; she should improve herself is her studies.
Sabiq
Abu Dhabi,UAE
Posted: August 09, 2007, 08:20

When Buchanan had apologised why did Asma still approach the university's mediation service? And moreover, I believe she told the university's mediation service only about Buchanan's initial email and not the apology.
Kattimani
Dubai,UAE
Posted: August 09, 2007, 08:10

It might seem a bit rude, though a straight forward opinion probably due to a long history, so nothing wrong with this email. I've seen this so often when I was studying; when you balance on the edge you can expect this. Cannot understand the buzz about this...
bobbydf
Dubai,UAE
Posted: August 09, 2007, 07:32

I would say to Asma not be afraid. What you did was perfectly correct. Professors are professionals and after reading Dr Paul's letter, I would say it really was time for him to retire anyways. And as far as fear of university goes, she is in New Zealand, and there are laws to protect and serve everyone. Good job over all!
Farhan Malik
Calgary,Canada
Posted: August 09, 2007, 03:40

You would think that these people will appreciate what the international students are bringing into their country. Anyways, I?m really happy on what Asma did.
souad abdi
dunedin,new zealand
Posted: August 09, 2007, 02:51

Well-done Asma. You done absolutely right, I am happy that you speak out. God knows how many other students he has treated like this. I am finishing my MBA in Sydney as well, didn't encounter such an issue but I am 100 per cent with you. You had to report him and what the disciplinary board of University has done has nothing to do with you and people should understand better.
Anahita
Sydney,Australia
Posted: August 09, 2007, 01:39

This is an insulting and outrageous e-mail. Since he is from the US, he should know that people always take time off especially for the death of one's parent. His e-mail indicates that he is a racist because not only he doubts her father's death, but insults her and her culture. He should be barred from teaching in New Zealand and the US. In addition, she should sue him for discrimination and defamation.
Ardeshir
Chicago,IL
Posted: August 09, 2007, 01:14

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