New American University for Iraq
In December we posted about a job opportunity at the University of Kurdistan Hawler in Iraq. The vacancy met with mixed reactions about the security issues involved in teaching in Iraq, despite the university being in the relatively safe north.
Well, further teaching opportunities will soon become available as a new American University is planned in the Kurdish-controlled region, on the outskirts of the city of Suleimaniah. The university aims to specialise in IT and engineering, but, according to this article from the Kurdistan Regional Government website, will open with “a small intake for intensive foundation English courses.”
There is a shortage of teachers in the region, at both school and university level, despite the scholarships now being offered by the Education Ministry to teachers arriving from Baghdad. According to the Minister for Primary and Secondary Education, quoted in the article, 10 teachers arrive every day, seeking refuge from Baghdad. The problem is that they cannot use these teachers because they cannot teach in the Kurdish language.
May 31st, 2007 at 11:04 am
Thanks for the article.
September 2nd, 2007 at 7:57 am
I have just read your article and thought I should shed some light on this subject for you as I am one of the teachers at the American University of Iraq.
The fact is we do need more “Native Speaker” English teachers. I am not sure at what point we are hiring again but we have already had the meetings and more teachers are definitely planned in the near future. But, we need native speakers only. The idea is to offer an “american” style education here which would be very difficult if the staff was not from or eductaed in North America or Western Europe.
Currently, we have two north americans and one Kurd as English teachers. The Kurdish teacher actually speaks perfect English and no one could probably guess he wasn’t native English. But he is the exception, not the rule.
So in the end, I encourage anyone who wants the opportunity to apply. The safety issues are there but very minimalized and we do feel reatively safe here. We already have over 200 resumes for teacher positions so I am sure these issues are not big factors.
December 9th, 2007 at 6:11 am
Hello, I am writing in response to your article requesting native English speakers to teach at the New American University.
I am an American and a college graduate. I am presently teaching in a public school, this is my sixth year of teaching. I hope to receive my ESL certification this year.
I am very interested in a teaching position at your university and would like to hear what you have to offer. Please inform me of future openings.
Thank you,
Wynn Morris
April 24th, 2008 at 11:32 am
I am interested in teaching in Kurdistan. I have been teaching English to speakers of other languages for seven years. For the last five years I have taught Kurdish students who live in the UK.