Will it be Accra? Amsterdam? Amman? We've no idea where next school year will find us. Hopefully employed. It wasn't an easy decision but we decided to leave our positions in Baku for possibly greener pastures.
What do you look for in a place to live? A culture/country that holds some appeal. Job possibilities for K. Relative safety. Decent health care. A non-profit school for T with a variety of nationalities among students and staff. Decent salary and benefits. We do need to sock away some money for retirement. Lower on the list, but something to weigh: climate, food, nature, local language that has some familiarity, decent internet, travel possibilities.
The search possibilities are significantly narrowed by age limitations. Many schools do not or cannot provide work permits for teachers over 60, or even, in some cases (certain African countries) 50. Currently there are openings that T would otherwise qualify for that he has no chance of filling in: Indonesia, Morocco, Malaysia, and Thailand. Others may say there is no age limit but prefer to hire younger. T, 62 in March, is being considered for a position in the Hague but it is very iffy, because the upper limit is 65 for the country as a whole and they would prefer hiring someone who has the possibility of staying more than three years. (T did point out to the director that the typical period of service for international school teachers IS 3 years).
So that leaves Ghana, Jordan, Shanghai, Cameroon, Malawi, India and Malaysia, at the moment. T is off to a job fair in London later this week, where many of those schools will be interviewing.
If one has nerves of steel one could wait out the current job fair season until spring, when, due to changed enrollment figures and unexpected staff departures, new openings occur. And schools are less concerned about age limits…
Stay tuned!
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