ASNO,
In defence of the locals though, your post gave the impression that the locals are a lesser controller than expats, and in UAE centre at least, that is far from the case. The locals I work with are some of the best controllers I have ever had the pleasure to work with.
If i gave that impression, I apologise. That was not I meant, maybe I should have said Student ATCOs rather than locals.
Regarding the time frames involved in validating, so what if some expats take a little longer to validate (for eg 5 months instead of 3). It's still better than being short staffed!!
But what do I know.
Fly through and Granny Smith - check your PMs.