Likely to be overseas scholar hence the long bond otherwise will just be a 4-year NIE or local scholar bond.

Personally, I left teaching in 2015 when I was close to 30 after teaching for close to 6 years. I enjoyed teaching at my Alma Mater and the main reason I left was because while teaching certainly has its challenges, it got less challenging after awhile. I was also curious about the private sector then. So taking a leap of faith, I resigned and decided to do a unrelated Masters to help myself transit into my new career. I'm grateful to my SLs who tried to dissuade me from leaving, giving me the option to go on no-pay leave and even mentioned that if I change my mind within 6 months, they'll request to Ministry to take me back.

Like what many have shared, one must be willing to take a pay cut and also be willing to start from the bottom. I took a 20% pay cut and was in a contract role before eventually being converted to a permanent role. In terms of salary, I would say I'm now probably slightly above the salary I would be drawing if I didn't leave service.

Do I miss teaching? Although I love what I'm doing now, I certainly do miss teaching because it is one of the most meaningful careers one can get. I work in the CBD now and I bump into my students there once a while. No amount of words can describe the pride and satisfaction I gain to see how much my students have come along and knowing that I've been part of that journey is just indescribable. I guess the mindset as to why you join service is important; sometimes a lot of what teachers perceive to be "admin" work are actually necessary to help develop the whole child. We don't only teach the subject that's being assigned to us but we are educators and we owe a duty of care to our students. Politics honestly is everywhere and I would say the politics in teaching is mild compared to the cutthroat private sector.

Is it impossible to do something else apart from private tutoring? Definitely not but it does come with sacrifices and a lot of determination. All the best!