Career as Teacher

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Please avoid and don't support Achievers Dream Chemistry Tuition and the lousy and fake CEO Jerald Lie Yan Cong.

Withdraw today. Their teachers are mostly young and not MOE trained.

Jerald Lie Yan Cong (CEO of Achievers Dream Chemistry Tuition) in public: i am humble, kind, i pay competitive salaries, our company is well run, good culture.

Jerald lie (CEO of Achievers Dream Chemistry Tuition) in reality: anyhow fire staff based on mood without even PIP, fires staff who are ill for taking mc illegally, anyhow fire staff he doesn't like, job ad states perm but in reality is short term contract, use 6m 1y contracts to control staff, greedy CEO who likes to hire cheap filipino staff with low wages, pays very low salaries to employees so he can keep more profits, if staff sits around doing nothing he starts to feel need to punish staff, verbally abusive, mentally unstable, dictatorship culture.

Were you an ex-MOE teacher who resigned and joined his tuition centre and regretting now?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Hi all,
I'm currently in PGDE (sec) and have been feeling confused and disheartened recently. I hold a FCH from an reputable overseas university in UK, was awarded EMS, and had prior teaching-related experience (relief teaching, internships, etc.). However, I recently found out that another PGDE batchmate, who is the same age, also female, with a local Second Upper degree is earning nearly $500 more in monthly pay. We’re both fresh grads and have roughly the same amount of experience. I’m honestly not trying to compare unfairly, but I can’t help feeling very undervalued and confused. I also didn’t receive any adjustment from the recent GEO1–3 salary revisions.

Would anyone happen to know how MOE determines PGDE starting salaries, and whether things like degree class, scholarship type, or overseas education are actually factored in? Any insight would really help me understand if this is a mistake or just part of how the system works. thanks in advance.

HR might not have registered your FCH. You need to scan yr transcript and send to them, they will backpay you. $500 diff in pay is too much of a discrepancy if both of you entered service at abt the same time.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I'm the OP of this thread. Thanks all for the advice and inputs, these are valuable perspectives. So far i'm resonating with the fact there will be a definite paycut (albeit not too much &#129310 and starting from a certain "rookie" level.

While I understand mid-career transitions usually mean starting somewhere humble, I hope to be on an accelerated path to match my level of exp and salary. Is this possible?

Someone also recommended VPA as a possibility. I'm involved in corporate level HR, strategic planning, budget and organisation development, so some of these skills are transferable. But can anyone here advise the realities of VPA? Is it easy to enter as mid-career? how would i be perceived by fellow teachers? what are some demands that comes with this position?

VPA was designed to attract mid-career professionals who wanted to go into the education sector without teaching. The initial demand was that he would need to run the school operations, from finance to building management. He/She would work with the General Office staff, some of whom can be very challenging to work with. Some OMs are really difficult to deal with. You might have to talk to staff who are quite belligerent as well. The biggest challenge comes from estate management. Suddenly, you need to be an expert in renovation and building works. The P would ask you to fix toilet leakages etc. If your school is chosen for renewal/renovation, VPA would need to deal with it. The hardware in the school also falls under VPA. So basically, it's one-leg-kicks-all kinda role.

You can definitely try VPA if you are unsure about teaching. VPA does not really work with teachers directly but different schools have different constraints. You might have to manage teachers as well. The few VPAs I worked with kept a polite distance from the teaching staff. The teachers would need to work/talk to VPA if they want to get some admin work done. So far, except for one, the VPAs I worked with were generally nice and cordial. You can give it a shot.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

VPA was designed to attract mid-career professionals who wanted to go into the education sector without teaching. The initial demand was that he would need to run the school operations, from finance to building management. He/She would work with the General Office staff, some of whom can be very challenging to work with. Some OMs are really difficult to deal with. You might have to talk to staff who are quite belligerent as well. The biggest challenge comes from estate management. Suddenly, you need to be an expert in renovation and building works. The P would ask you to fix toilet leakages etc. If your school is chosen for renewal/renovation, VPA would need to deal with it. The hardware in the school also falls under VPA. So basically, it's one-leg-kicks-all kinda role.

You can definitely try VPA if you are unsure about teaching. VPA does not really work with teachers directly but different schools have different constraints. You might have to manage teachers as well. The few VPAs I worked with kept a polite distance from the teaching staff. The teachers would need to work/talk to VPA if they want to get some admin work done. So far, except for one, the VPAs I worked with were generally nice and cordial. You can give it a shot.

Add the occasional shifting of boxes /tables jobscope to the list.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

This has the same energy as the student who daydreamed while the teacher briefed on the assignment, then raise hand to ask "cher when is it due"

Check your emails?

You guys can watch the attitude actually

Instead of bashing teachers. Try to see their point of view and just read the articles below.

s://sgessays.com/3-reasons-why-i-resigned-during-my-singapore-ministry-of-education-moe-trainee-teacher-compulsory-teaching-stint-period

s://sgessays.com/how-my-friend-who-was-a-private-part-time-tuition-teacher-became-a-full-time-moe-teacher-and-lost-his-joy-of-teaching

Hi all, I recently received my letter of confirmation (sometime in April/May 2025) so I am officially GEO2 (trained). However, I understand that I am supposed to get a cohort promotion to GEO3 as well due to NS. But, I did not received it.

For context, I (28 M) completed NS, have an honours degree and am a non-scholar. I completed my practicum year with a C grade. During my work reviews, I was not notified of any issues or complains that might hinder the cohort promotion.

Under such circumstances, what might be the reasons for me being held back? Could it be because I am not a scholar or I only got a C grade?

Just trying to rationalise what might have happened as it is quite demoralising to be held back from the cohort promotion. Thanks for replying!

Cohort promotions are not guaranteed. Your C grade is an indication that you are doing alright. BUt not good enough to get an earlier promotion.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Hi all, I recently received my letter of confirmation (sometime in April/May 2025) so I am officially GEO2 (trained). However, I understand that I am supposed to get a cohort promotion to GEO3 as well due to NS. But, I did not received it.

For context, I (28 M) completed NS, have an honours degree and am a non-scholar. I completed my practicum year with a C grade. During my work reviews, I was not notified of any issues or complains that might hinder the cohort promotion.

Under such circumstances, what might be the reasons for me being held back? Could it be because I am not a scholar or I only got a C grade?

Just trying to rationalise what might have happened as it is quite demoralising to be held back from the cohort promotion. Thanks for replying!

wait, shouldn't cohort promotion be in 1 year's time for NS guys? it isn't immediate on your same year of confirmation/placement mah. which means by right it should come in 2026?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Hi all, I recently received my letter of confirmation (sometime in April/May 2025) so I am officially GEO2 (trained). However, I understand that I am supposed to get a cohort promotion to GEO3 as well due to NS. But, I did not received it.

For context, I (28 M) completed NS, have an honours degree and am a non-scholar. I completed my practicum year with a C grade. During my work reviews, I was not notified of any issues or complains that might hinder the cohort promotion.

Under such circumstances, what might be the reasons for me being held back? Could it be because I am not a scholar or I only got a C grade?

Just trying to rationalise what might have happened as it is quite demoralising to be held back from the cohort promotion. Thanks for replying!

Did the other guys in your cohort get promoted too? You should also ask your RO/SLs they would know why/why not. If you are not satisfied with the answer, you can ask HR, or STU for advice.