‘Please excuse to Indian and Pakistani'

An Indian woman looking for a teacher's job has accused a Dubai school of discrimination after an ad it posted on an online jobsite sought to keep candidates from two nationalities out. But the school claims it was an oversight. Chaitra Prabhakar, a Mirdif resident, said the advertisement was posted by a school in Al Warqa on an online forum on December 15. The requirement was for a full-time KG teacher, with applications being sought from candidates who had a bachelor's degree, were fluent in English and had a minimum three years experience in the "school industry". "That is all very well. But I was shocked to find that the ad actually stopped Indians and Pakistanis from applying. And the language used was anything but fluent." Article continues below She quoted the ad as saying, "Please excuse to Indian and Pakistani." "This is unacceptable in a multi-cultural environment like Dubai," said Prabhakar. She said she could understand if she could not get a job because she did not meet the educational qualification or had the required experience. "But not because of my nationality or colour of skin." When contacted, the school claimed the content of the advertisement was not checked before it went online. "It was a mistake. We recruit teachers of all nationalities, including Indian and Pakistani," the principal told XPRESS. A written request to the online forum on what its policy is with regard to such advertisements did not yield a response. Terms of use mentioned on the website, however, warned against the use of "racist or discriminatory content towards any race, religion, creed, nationality, gender or any other grouping of individuals". A Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) spokesperson told XPRESS, "We oversee and give approvals to ads concerning enrolment of pupils, not recruitment of staff."