I have a confession to make. My past weekend was devoted to professional development. Supposedly. I forked out the hefty eight hundred-odd UAE dirhams for the TESOL Arabia annual conference with a light heart, looking forward to a few renowned speakers, an enlightening exhibition and the chance to see what was happening in the profession regionally.
I attended the first hour of the conference. Couldn’t stay another minute.
The atmosphere in the plenary session was oppressive. The credit crunch and rising costs came up several times, even in that hour. It was as if the whole profession had the blues. (An it tends to be a rather blue profession in this region as is.)
Leaving the conference to head for the greener pastures of Dubai’s infamous malls, I found another transformation in the city. The notorious traffic jams were gone. The malls were virtually empty. The boldface capitalized SALE 75% OFF signs were ubiquitous enough to lose their lustre – even to a die-hard bargain hunter like myself.
The economic crisis has obviously left Dubai reeling, and I couldn’t help but feel empathy for the many individuals who have been hit so hard. Every taxi driver, sales clerk and random member of the public had a tale to tell: rising costs, jobs lost and other woes.
Yet I can’t help but wonder if this confrontation with true crisis won’t be a good thing for education in the region. Until now, the need for quality education has been more cosmetic than genuine, thanks to the availability of cheap foreign labour. If there is true need for quality local staffing in the workplace, this may drive the education system in the Gulf to greater heights.
At least, that is one promising possibility.
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