Bad trend to set
Reforms demanded by Pakistani politician Imran Khan are valid and should have been done long ago, but the mode of achieving those things is totally wrong (‘Pakistan unrest felt by UAE expats,’ Gulf News, September 2). Everything should be channelled through the proper system.
I am neutral but I would not want the Prime Minister to resign. If this happens, it will become a trend and in the future, any person gathering outside parliament, including extremists, will demand resignation or change of government.
From Mr Mohsin Khan
UAE
Facebook comment
No credibility
The Pakistan government has killed innocent people during the unrest and they are still calling themselves a democracy. It is totally unfair and undemocratic.
Corrupt leaders are small in numbers but they unite and use democracy for their own personal gains, but I believe that ideas are always bullet proof. The government should resign because they have lost their credibility.
From Mr Emran Aziz
Al Ain
Website comment
Power struggle
I think it is the army in Pakistan that is desperate to rule the people again. It’s unfortunate but I think this is the truth.
From Mr Waqas
Dubai
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Investment opportunities
No doubt Pakistan is heading towards more development, and this is why these issues are arising. There is a lot of opportunity for investments. Pakistan is full of natural resources and beauty. Nothing is artificial; I can say that all the affluent citizens still prefer to live there with pride because of the resource rich opportunities.
From Mr U. Z. Khan
Dubai
Facebook comment
Supporting Khan
As a Pakistani, we should be proud of the protesters who are fighting for us for the past month. We have always read about revolutions in books and that is why some people are worried with the current situation, but to get something good we have to struggle much.
I am very happy with their efforts and I am awaiting change. I wish I could be there.
From Mr Mohammad Sa’ad
Dubai
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Hope peace prevails
Whatever Imran Khan is doing is good, but for a stable democracy to last it needs to run through a system. Look at what’s happening to our country; I don’t think the crisis will impact much though, but I pray that peace will prevail.
All beauty seems to disappear when the pay cheque arrives every month. I am an Indian and I love my India, but money is equally important for me and my family to live happily - that’s what the GCC provides me.
From Mr Pravin Sivan
UAE
Facebook comment
Not handled properly
I think Sharif and Khan don’t know what to do seeing as both of them are handling things without care and without negotiating. At the end of the day, I feel that all we are doing is damaging Pakistan’s economy.
From Mr Norman B.
Dubai
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Trust issues
I think it has become the norm as Pakistanis to not trust the politicians who have been in power after experiencing the last few decades. We are used to politicians who lie to the public and to the parliament. How can they be trusted? I am very hopeful that Pakistan will finally get rid of corrupt politicians.
From Mr Seddiqi
Dubai
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Questioning regimes
I hope that the situation can be resolved and the innocent Pakistani lives can be saved. However, I don’t think there is anything wrong with the Pakistani army ruling. One must keep in mind that the army is not ‘desperate to rule’ and Musharraf only took matters into his own hands when Sharif redirected the flight to India and botched the Kargil war.
It’s hard when the economic conditions were better during that time. Democracy may be a wonderful thing, but Pakistan might just need an army rule. However, I currently am in full support of Imran Khan and Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri to rid Pakistan of Sharif.
From Mr Mohammad
Dubai
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Trust the army
When sold out regimes and sold out politicians rule the country, this is what happens. No civil government has prevailed in Pakistan’s history due to corruption. I think that the army is the only credible institute to rule the country.
From Mr Khan
Dubai
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Need for re-election
I think that Khan is doing right for Pakistan and for democracy. In my opinion, election reforms must be done in the country by any means possible. As a Pakistani, I know how elections in Pakistan are - they are rigged and under the influence of a few people only.
From Mr Shakil Quraishi
UAE
Facebook comment
Hurting the economy
The situation in Pakistan is very bad, as some politicians are corrupt and some people are supporting them. In the past few weeks, the economy has fallen badly. All of this unrest is just spoiling the name of Pakistan throughout the world.
From Mr Shagufta Asad
UAE
Facebook comment
Increase standards
I feel surprised to see the salaries of teachers and nurses in the UAE, except those in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain, are the lowest in the GCC (‘Low pay, low morale in Dubai private schools,’ Gulf News, September 2). Both professions are considered to be noble career paths and we wish to have the best of them for our children and our families.
I do not have an issue with a fee hike if teachers get paid more. But, I find the school fees are high in comparison with other GCC countries. I do not understand a teacher with a salary of Dh3500. I worry about how good they will be in teaching my child at that rate.
In my company, I have drivers and clerks who earn better than that. As a parent, seeing what these professions are receiving in terms of salary, I would never want my child to become a nurse or a teacher. I think a lot of individuals are thinking along the same lines.
As a result, I see a huge drop of qualified people in these professions. I suggest that the best of them should be paid the best and if there is an excess in market, the Human Resources departments needs to identify between the good and the bad, and recruit only the best. This will help retain the best in the field. What I see now are people from these two professions are going into alternative professions that will give them better rewards.
From Mr Shakun Gopal
Dubai
Website comment
Not so bad
At least they are paid that much. It’s not as bad of a pay scale as in the private sector where professionals, like engineers are paid very low. I know engineers that have a starting pay of Dh1500. The average new employee in the private sector is paid in the range of Dh3000 and Dh4000. It’s really difficult out there!
From Mr Thomas
Sharjah
Website comment
Publish experience to justify pay
Teachers here should not be under the impression that a degree will make them an outstanding teacher. It’s a profession and every profession has a ladder of experience. If a teacher holds a strong background with excellent experience of teaching at reputable schools, they can get better salaries.
If a teacher is confident about their teaching skills, they can easily switch a job and go to another school. If you deserve you must get it.
I feel that the main reason for the low pay of teachers in the region is that there are very few teachers with a very strong teaching profile mixed with experience. The best way to raise the bar and finish this problem would be transparency in the expertise of the teacher they hire at the school. If this was done by publishing on their website the experience of each teacher they hire, things would change.
If the schools have highly qualified teachers, they would automatically be forced to pay them better or else the teachers would simply leave. The school wouldn’t want this because it would lower the school’s reputation. This would also work for hospitals. We only go to hospitals with good doctors. In the same way, children will only go to schools that have good teachers.
From Mr Gurpreet Singh
Dubai
Website comment
An honourable profession
The problem is that even the well qualified teachers are only taking home salaries averaging around Dh3000 to Dh5000 in Indian schools. I think that this amount of pay is pathetic on many levels for such an honourable profession. No amount of added degrees would hike their salaries.
From Mr D.
Dubai
Website comment
Bad conditions
Teaching jobs are really getting more and more difficult these days. It is really demoralising for teachers to be paid so little. It is my experience that the conditions for teachers in Indian schools are worse.
They work six hours per day and carry so much work home and get paid so little. This definitely affects the quality of teaching. The teacher who is paid more will definitely work harder to justify their work. I used to work in an Indian school but left my job because it was not helping me to survive in a city where the prices of everything are going so high.
From Mr Mandeep Kaur
India
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Some schools pay more
Teachers who want a better paying job should apply for jobs in American, British or Australian schools with higher tuition fees. In these schools the pay scale ranges from Dh5000 to Dh15000, according to the years of experience and qualifications.
From Mr Addy
Sharjah
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