I felt a little disturbed seeing some of the messages here. I also beg to differ that only 5% of the teachers are passionate. I’m in a neighbourhood school and most of our pupils are from Low SES family. I reach school at 6:30am and leave at about 5:30pm everyday. I feel very tired sometimes but I always think to myself “it’s for the students, it’s to value-add their learning, etc” when I think about quitting. Sometimes when my P arrows me to do stuffs, I always think about the end in mind about how this will impact/ help the kids, and most time, 90% of the things I do, it does impact them positively. I admit that I thought of quitting to just have a more relaxing life (my husband has been telling me to quit as he can be the sole breadwinner) but I can’t let go because I do find joy in what I do. I remember last year I spent about 8 hours designing and laminating customised bookmarks for my kids for Children’s Day. Just thinking about their smiles makes it all worthwhile. Of course, some just frown upon seeing a bookmark but most appreciates. I just finished a one-hour online live lesson and my students all said they enjoyed the lesson because they could see each other and the discussion was so rich. I spent 3 hours on the lesson planning but seeing their feedback and knowing that they have learnt makes it all worthwhile. A lot of my students have returned to the school to visit and the things their say/ write in the cards is really touching. E.g. I will never forget your teachings, you are the best teacher I ever had, etc. I’m sure you guys have gotten those too. Yes, they may grow up and forget you but some things like values will stay. From my observation and 10 years in school, I dare say we have at least 50% of passionate and dedicated Teachers. The other 50% wants to draw a steady paycheck, waits for retirement or just simply because it’s impossible to go for a career change and draw that kind of salary. Many of them have regrets and of course thought about career change but they know that the outside industry is not as stable as teaching, so they fear quitting in case of regrets. In any case, whether you are a teacher or not, most people in this world is still driven by monetary gains, and humans need that form of recognition all the time. Even if you have done something right and your spouse praises you, you feel good; it’s all normal. Pls do not associate the discussion here on promotions/ increments with our passion. Having that extra money is good because I get to buy stuffs I like, but end of the day, even if we don’t get that promotion or high increments, we still go back and do what we do best with a heart.