As schools across the UAE gear up to reopen on Monday, August 25, educational leaders emphasize that career advancement, development opportunities, and the prestige of teaching are as important as salaries for retaining teachers.
This sentiment was echoed by Dino Varkey, Group Chief Executive Officer of Gems Education, at the annual Gems Awareness Day at Atlantis, The Palm in Dubai.
Professional Growth and Recognition
“Compensation and benefits will always be crucial,” he told Khaleej Times on the event’s sidelines. “However, offering professional mobility and development becomes a much stronger incentive for teachers to stay with us than just financial rewards. Yet, our compensation must remain competitive.”
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Dino Varkey
A global study shows that elementary and pre-school teachers in 34 developed countries earn about 22% less than peers in other fields with similar education.
Varkey also stressed the need to elevate the teaching profession’s profile.
“It’s about raising the profile of teaching as a profession. We’ve aimed to do that with our Global Teacher Prize… that’s part of the challenge.”
He added that retention involves more than just salary.
“Teaching is a vocation. If teachers feel challenged, happy, safe, trusted, and enabled, they’ll stay. In international schools, teacher turnover is about 25%. Our rate is significantly lower at about 15%, but there’s more work to do.”
Varkey called for systemic change, urging a cultural shift in how teachers are valued.
“Society needs to celebrate teachers again. In my grandparents’ time, teachers were highly respected despite limited means.”
Gems, one of the UAE’s largest private school groups, has hired over 1,700 new teachers from 70+ countries for the new school year, receiving over 600,000 applications annually for around 2,000 roles, making it a highly sought-after employer.
Lisa Crausby OBE, Group Chief Education Officer at Gems, supported Varkey’s views, stating that research shows pay isn’t the main driver for teacher retention.
“Research indicates it’s not about salary. It’s about professional development and growth opportunities…from an employee perspective. We’re focusing on that, launching our Gems Talent Academy to ensure strong professional development for all staff.”
Photo: Lisa Crausby
Adaptive Compensation Strategies
She noted that salary adjustments might be necessary in specific cases.
“Sometimes we may need to adjust salaries, but they should be benchmarked. We should consider retention allowances for subjects with high demand, like physics, where specialist teachers are hard to find. Thinking flexibly is key.”
Crausby also detailed how Gems is creating pathways for teachers’ career growth.
“We’ve designed a ‘pathway to world-class’ for teachers, a set of descriptors for middle leadership posts or excellent fellowship. Likewise, for middle leaders moving to senior roles. Growth and career opportunities are what people seek, and we want our staff to embrace this model.”
Global Teacher Shortage
Regarding the global education challenge, a UNESCO report estimates 44 million more teachers are needed to achieve universal primary and secondary education by 2030.
Varkey noted, “The global teacher shortage won’t be solved by traditional methods… technology, artificial intelligence, and machine learning systems will act as crucial bridges to address one of today’s most pressing global issues.”
