Ministry of Education Singapore FAQ

Pros

Learnt a lot from my time there. Had classroom teaching experience and was blessed with a very good environment. Colleagues were very kind and did not treat me differently than them.

Cons

Wish that the school would have a say in future hiring process for relief to full time staff.

Pros

I was posted to a junior college. The colleagues I had were caring, had a wicked sense of humour, and were largely supportive.

Cons

Worklife balance. Sexism. Just be aware that your male colleagues get a free pass to promotion. For context: all first year education officers are given a default C grade regardless of their contributions. In this same year, all male first year teachers get promoted automatically. I never got promoted in my three years as an educator because I got a C- grade in the second year when it mattered. The school's explanation for my performance was that someone had to eat the C- grade. So yup, I was never promoted, and didn't receive my mid-year bonus despite doing more work than my peers. I know this to be true because of the demands of my subject. I had to create and record lectures every week on top of the teaching schedule. I was barely given enough curriculum time to cover content. On top of that, the marking load was mind-numbing. The A-Levels were the focus. It is an outdated examination with little real-world significance. It was a Sisyphean task preparing them extensively over two years just for a three-hour paper; their notes discarded, possibly their knowledge too, and then the next batch of students enter and you repeat the whole cycle. You never leave. That's the worst feeling.

Advice to Management

Let teachers who want to leave leave in peace. Don't bother us by informing us that returning will be difficult because you're exiting with a poor grade. That merely confirms my decision to leave because all I am to you is a productive unit-- a grade. Review promotional processes. Learn the names and faces of your staff. On results day in 2020, my principal mistook me for a student once and chastised me for not heading back to the classroom to receive my A-level results. I was on staircase duty. Also, I was marking.

Pros

Passion to teach the younger generation

Cons

Too many new initiatives lack of teaching time do teach kids.

Advice to Management

Think before and follow up.