Career as Teacher

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Of course that was not what I meant. I was responding to the insinuation made by someone that teachers who find themselves bringing work home are inherently inefficient.

Context.

Actually, there is some truth in the statement that if teachers find themselves bringing work home on regular basis, they could be inefficient. Esp. if you find that others are able to complete on time.

just went from geo5 to seo1... what kind of pay increment can I expect?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Actually, there is some truth in the statement that if teachers find themselves bringing work home on regular basis, they could be inefficient. Esp. if you find that others are able to complete on time.

Not always about efficiency la. Different teachers also have different committees and different workloads. How to compare efficiency if the workload cannot even be compared. Don’t talk about PAM teachers also la. And some teachers have aged parents or young kids to care for. They can’t be staying 12 hours at the office every day so they gotta bring some work back la completely normal.

Hi everyone. I got appointed a KP and obtained GEO5 4 years ago. Perf Grades have been consistently Bs and have 12 years of working experience. Would like to ask if there is any chance of promotion to SEO1 this year? If not, usually how many more hours do I have to wait? Thanks.

Typo.. not hours but years.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Let's be more detailed. 43 days plus Teacher's Day, Children's Day, Youth Day, Day after ND...total 47 days excluding weekends.

That adds up to 9+ weeks or 2+ months of holidays leh. How are 18 and 21 days of annual leave comparable? On top of that, teachers can take urgent paid leave for important life events. Anyone who hasn't done the math and has been teaching at least 1 year, can feel that the teaching profession accords a lot of rest time between terms. When I first joined the teaching profession and when it was the hols, my colleagues told me that teachers all travel during the holidays because got too many holidays and holidays are paid. OMG, it was a mind-blowing thought for me as I was in the private sector for almost 10 years before.

Bottomline, teaching isn't lucrative especially if you are just a normal teacher. But you are guaranteed a decent standard of living if you manage your finances well. More than half my colleagues live in condominiums and landed property. I'd say about three quarters. I think that speaks volume about the profession. So stop devaluing the profession and making people think that teachers are poor folks who teach because they can't and have to suck it up and suffer a bad job.

Have some pride or get out.

How many teachers really get the full '9 weeks' of holidays?

How protected is protected time?

If taking grad classes, often protected time is shorter, because need to come back during sch hols for extra lessons

Then there are school camps. At least 2 camps a year, for cohort, and CCA. Or more if you are in charge of UGs. Sometimes need to cover for other staff who are heavily pregnant, got medical conditions or mothers with very young kids.
On camps, you are on duty 24/7 for the entire duration.

Or weekends burned, bringing students out.

All these duties no off in lieu.

Personally, the most I get for protected time is 2+8+2+15. Around 27 days
On paper, is more than the 18-21 days other civil servants get.

In reality, if you minus off these additional duties, the 'extra' days of school holidays not even enough to offset

What is the proportion of school EOs are aiming to go HQ?
What is the proportion of HQ EOs aiming to go back to schools?

Going overseas doesn't mean one is rich. Go malaysia also counts as going overseas.

Teachers go overseas during sch holidays, because it guarantees that nobody can recall them back for work

Those who stayed behind in sg, may find themselves being called back to work during their supposed protected time, to cover for other colleagues.
'Oh, so-and-so is on MC. We got this trip/camp, need to ensure enough S:T ratio. Can help to cover?'
Seen this too many times.

Staying condo also doesn't mean teachers are well paid.

Majority of teachers are females. And the vast majority of them, have husbands who are not teachers. If your husband have a well paying job in the private sector, you can afford to live in a condo or landed property too.

As for male teachers, other than HODs, whose salaries have hit a certain level due to their seniority, most ordinary teachers around me live in HDBs.

At best, teachers' salaries are at median level compared to all graduates of local unis. Look at the annual GES released by the universities, and the annual wage statistics released by MOM.

There's a reason why so many left for the tuition sector.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Actually, there is some truth in the statement that if teachers find themselves bringing work home on regular basis, they could be inefficient. Esp. if you find that others are able to complete on time.

Or you could simply be bogged down by many things requiring your presence, which prevented you from completing your work in school.

Lessons, additional lessons, meetings, CCAs.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

How many teachers really get the full '9 weeks' of holidays?

How protected is protected time?

If taking grad classes, often protected time is shorter, because need to come back during sch hols for extra lessons

Then there are school camps. At least 2 camps a year, for cohort, and CCA. Or more if you are in charge of UGs. Sometimes need to cover for other staff who are heavily pregnant, got medical conditions or mothers with very young kids.
On camps, you are on duty 24/7 for the entire duration.

Or weekends burned, bringing students out.

All these duties no off in lieu.

Personally, the most I get for protected time is 2+8+2+15. Around 27 days
On paper, is more than the 18-21 days other civil servants get.

In reality, if you minus off these additional duties, the 'extra' days of school holidays not even enough to offset

What is the proportion of school EOs are aiming to go HQ?
What is the proportion of HQ EOs aiming to go back to schools?

Going overseas doesn't mean one is rich. Go malaysia also counts as going overseas.

Teachers go overseas during sch holidays, because it guarantees that nobody can recall them back for work

Those who stayed behind in sg, may find themselves being called back to work during their supposed protected time, to cover for other colleagues.
'Oh, so-and-so is on MC. We got this trip/camp, need to ensure enough S:T ratio. Can help to cover?'
Seen this too many times.

Staying condo also doesn't mean teachers are well paid.

Majority of teachers are females. And the vast majority of them, have husbands who are not teachers. If your husband have a well paying job in the private sector, you can afford to live in a condo or landed property too.

As for male teachers, other than HODs, whose salaries have hit a certain level due to their seniority, most ordinary teachers around me live in HDBs.

At best, teachers' salaries are at median level compared to all graduates of local unis. Look at the annual GES released by the universities, and the annual wage statistics released by MOM.

There's a reason why so many left for the tuition sector.

My experience is very different. Protected time is really protected time unless you KP. And my male colleagues stay in condos. They don’t have rich wives. They are ST or HOD level though.

Teachers salary is indeed at median level compared to other disciplines in the U. But hey, isn’t median among degree holders better than being at the bottom right?

End of the day it’s all about perspective. Everybody also wanna be Elon musk. How many can? If this is your capacity, and what you’re capable of, just be grateful it’s a job that’s paying way above the median income in SG.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Hi everyone. I got appointed a KP and obtained GEO5 4 years ago. Perf Grades have been consistently Bs and have 12 years of working experience. Would like to ask if there is any chance of promotion to SEO1 this year? If not, usually how many more hours do I have to wait? Thanks.

Think it depends on CEP - as a rough gauge (though may not be accurate), can consider if you're currently a SH/LH or HOD.

For reference - I was on a similar timeline as you and spent a total of 6 years as GEO5 before promotion (5 as SH, 1 as HOD). I'm guessing my CEP might have gone up during that period. Not sure how long I'd have taken if I'd stayed as SH without CEP adjustment throughout…

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I just got promoted to Geo3 last year. Current salary $5k. How long will it be until the next promo GEO 4?

Nobody can say for certain. But it won’t be any time soon.