Ministry of Education Singapore Workplace FAQ

Pros

Quite stable during extreme recessions induced by pandemics, super-challenging and competitive, full of people to interact with day and night with messages/emails coming in hot and fast all week long. Some ‘protected’ holiday time during the year for you to set exam papers/worksheets.

Cons

Parents and children are becoming very challenging. More and more parents are becoming aggressive and protective and the school management may not be as supportive as you hope for therefore the school you end up at makes a difference between being overworked and extremely overworked. High turnover rate among schools is telling of the high burnout rate emotionally. Pay-wise, they attract you with their higher pay rate but it’s definitely below market rate and other industries in the mid to long term so you will be earning less than peers who are in the private sector. If you are thinking of switching careers mid-way, a teaching stint on your resume does little to show credibility in the private sector so consider carefully before joining the teaching fraternity.

Advice to Management

Are we really preparing the children for a dynamic technological landscape in the future? Too much emphasis has been placed on final exams. One can argue but just look at the stress of parents and children. The tuition centers’ roaring business is telling of the extreme need to perform. Teachers themselves also know that class results are imperative to performance appraisals. With a big sit-down at the end of the year together with school leaders, the class results are for all to see with the teacher feeling extreme pressure to perform. The purpose of education in any country is to prepare the citizens for competing in the world and although there are merits in the current curriculum, there may be unnecessary topics that bring little or no value. Thank you for reading.

Pros

You will be treated fairly. Good office. Good Co-workers

Cons

Content that you are required to push can feel same-ish

Pros

Sharing of workload within department

Cons

Too many rules and regulations and lack of facilities, stationery and teaching resources.

Advice to Management

Staff welfare grouping where teachers are allowed to pair up with colleagues of their choice is favoured.

Pros

Good working environment and great benefits. And also with progression opportunities to upskill with micro courses

Cons

Was pretty disappointed with the starting pay at the start. Be prepared to work outside your jobscope.

Pros

Satisfaction, regular breaks at end of each term

Cons

During school term, work can be crazy. But this is school dependent.