Student Uncovers HCT Truths (part one)

SuedeO is now TWICE as happy to present an insider's view of HCT - because it's in two parts! My thanks go out to the anonymous student (called Hamda - or is it Noura?) who has taken the daring step to present her  sincere opinion of HCT - one of the nation's most important institutions, apparently

Dear Suede,

I have read many posts in your online blog that further prove the truth about corruption in the Higher Colleges of Technology around the UAE. l am another local girl complaining from many aspects that are relevant to different areas such as management, breaching and invalidated contracts, the non-professional mannerisms of both local and expatriates, and many fields of corruption that weren't previously mentioned in this post.

It was hard to open a blocked site in my country and I feel awful for breaking the rules, but the truth must make its way to people.

First, this is the most important part of my paragraph. I am a local student and I am not writing this to lie. I am here to reveal the true, objective nature of this unethical place, and to help the government take a positive step onto improving the education in my country. Anyone who worked or studied in the Higher Colleges of Technology will not help but to agree with me, and if you're still defending manipulation and saying that I made things up, you're just delusional and need a whack on the head to wake up.

As a local, I will not step aside and watch education in my country crumble down. Students deserve a better teaching environment and teachers deserve more rights in valid contracts.

Here are some few things that I have noticed that the ministry of high education needs to take care of as soon as possible:

1- The HCT does not have valid work contracts. One must think. How could it be that such a big organization that follows the ministry of education breaches contracts, how is it possible that the rights of the employees are not properly illustrated in papers, working/ office hours, their salaries, and they're always overworked and barely have time for their personal lives or families. Everyone must confirm that there will be recent changes in contracts and they may be expelled or dismissed without a reason! This can dangerously distress students because the lecturers would be going through stress that they may intentionally or unintentionally take out on them affecting the learning environment and their grades. It was very common for me when I was a student to see that certain employees had no office (or an office that keeps moving from one building to another), lecturers that are booted out at the end of the term for no reason. Is this some kind of circus where some wicked employers (yes, I am talking about both locals and expats) play around with money and people's emotions?

2- Little to no professionalism! Now, do not get me wrong, I have met some professional lecturers who are able to pass on their knowledge to students, but the vast majority explain inefficiently while students pretend to pay attention! Educators are strained and even furious because of the dishonest supervision. To make matters even worse, students who have special needs (e.g.- students with mental disabilities are taught along with the students who are perfectly fine and given the same exams as them. How can any lecturer explain to students with disabilities and students who are good/ excellent in the same place? How is that fair to students who are mentally ill? Even if the instructor focused on these students and gave them kindness and devotion (bear in mind that most lecturers are not qualified to deal with some special needs), how can other (average) pupils learn if the professor only focuses on students who are not as capable as others? That would only waste class time. If the lecturer does the opposite and explains to everyone the same way, students with certain weaknesses would be left behind.

There should be at least one person (who has a degree in compensatory “special” education and schooling) that can explain to them while not interrupting the rest of the class (E.g. someone who communicates with people who cannot hear to get the material of the class across…etc. )

Students with severe walking and muscle tone/ bone issues are provided with wheelchairs, are allowed to be escorted by their servant which is something that I actually like, but then again that brings forth the issue of bullying that I’ll mention in the next point.

3- Bullying and the deficiency of adequate consoling services.
To prove my point, I’ll narrate an actual life event of a girl I knew well. She was sensitive and smart, she was also hard-working. She would do well in all her exams and projects, but one day she just troubled one of the lecturers involuntarily and she was expelled.

She was not exactly expelled for upsetting that person, but because she resorted to getting reassurance and counseling in college. She opened her mind and heart to one of the college counselors about what happened to her, the stress she would go through and all the bullying she was coping with from various lecturers and students, and not a few days after that, she was expelled for saying the truth about what happened to her. The counselor she trusted and treated as a friend reached to the administration and used her case to get a pay out of it. She exposed her to the managers and exaggerated it, flagging her as a threat to herself and others, although she was innocent. 

How miserable is it that someone reaches out to someone they consider as the only hope in their dying world, only to be torn apart by the very same person to climb their way to their personal greed and career success.

Before you say that she has done something horrible that’s worthy of being expelled, she did not, she merely was taken advantage of. I repeat that the girl was going through horrible abuse and stress at home in addition to tension and bullying in that jungle they metaphorically call a college, and she reaches out to the only person they found in their way imagining them as the only hope and light in darkness just to be shocked by them climbing their way on the expense of the sanity and emotions of her, a young girl that can easily be damaged.

I know some of you might be like, this is an individual case in one of the colleges but not all managers do that. WRONG. Many students have been booted out for nothing, just like many lecturers have been dismissed or expelled for nothing.

4- the old rules specifically said that students who used to get below 115 in the national CEPA won't be accepted, but my friend who got around 82 could enroll and it wasn't just an exception. My friend with a grade of around 101 could join the English levels. Which is against the rules that say that students should get at least 115.

5- the food in their cafeterias (at least in the city I'm from) is very horrible. The essence and scents are alright and so is the texture of the food, but many students have gotten ill from the same two places. I've gotten food poisoning there at least twice. If you can't fix your academics and the education there is broken beyond repair, at least ensure that your students can eat healthy food without having to fart and crap themselves like they swallowed an entire bottle of laxatives.

In all honesty, I think the government has a lot to work on in HCT, it's better for the government to completely shut down, replace or take serious action to alter the way things are there.

There are no rights for students, no right for employees and everyone is in such a mess.

I feel ashamed of being a local with this immoral place in my city. I don't like exploitation and I feel very helpless. Please save our education. Stop letting ignorance prevail.

Someone please make a move.

Feel free to add any additional statements and post this to your blog. I’ll be looking forward to reading everyone’s comments.

To be continued