may i know which HR email you emailed to?

exactly. then why do they expect teachers to do so many things that are out of teaching? planning school events, professional development, after school remedial. do these for free? when they can focus on classroom teaching instead.

Lol wad advice u need?
Take a chill pill n wait till oct

If you spend enough time on the ground, you should know that the real difference comes from hours spent directly interacting with students. All too often, many teachers chasing large scale projects for career progression do not do justice to their own students.

Hello, if tell you you will be promoted but not April as everyone else, need to wait till October. You okay with it meh? If there’s a legit reason for it then still okay la.

exactly, i think that OP has some issues. you are sharing your concerns and your story why is he/she saying all these unnecessary stuff.

Seriously, you should consider changing school or even leave the service. At the end of a day, it’s just a job and no job should bring you so much angst. There is a life out there besides working and I strongly believe that you should prioritise your mental health.

Lolol.
Not happy go bash MOE lo, strawberry.

I was promoted in October too instead of April as my batch to Geo 3, back in 2014. I was on maternity leave in 2012 and 2013. I think that could be the reason.

Were you away at any point since your graduation? E.g., NPL, ML, etc. if yes, that could have affected your on-the-job work duration therefore impacting promotion timing

Your surprise is not the worst. Had a friend who did not get the auto cohort promotion after NIE graduation. The promotion to GEO3 only came ONE YEAR later than those of the same batch same gender. Queries were directed to both SLs and HR, but no clear answer was given.

This friend did not make mistakes and got C+ and Bs. Not a scholar but still TA holder. Did not go on any types of leave either.

Promotions are indeed slowing down...But is it likely to be affecting even cohort promotions...?

have u not been keeping abreast of news on the educational priorities esp those coming out of political leaders mouth?? a teacher is not hired to teach but to develop a child holistically . that’s every teachers job

Whats e CEP benchmark for FHQ posting? Any idea?

Minimally SEO 2

Got to pay the bills dude. Last time teachers are really highly paid. A normal teacher can afford landed properties, with some having multiple condos, and on top of that, receive pension after retirement. There were schemes like Teachers Estate to help teachers own a landed property. Compare that with today? Young officers can barely afford the tiny HDB flats. Owning a condo is impossible unless both are in the SEO paygrades.

Most likely offended someone, and promotion got blocked by P or SLs.

Young officers cannot afford a bto? That's absolutely rubbish. Starting salary now is almost 4k.a teacher couple would earn between 8-9k combined after teaching a few years. A 4 room bto costs. A hdb bto at jurong west costs 291k and even if you're looking at a more attractive location such as at Queens town, it's 541k.

Why look at owning a condo? 80% of Singapore residents stay in hdb. If you're saying that teachers should be able to stay at a condo, you're saying that teachers should be in the top 20% of income earners in the country!

The original poster was comparing with teachers of the past. Therefore it is relevant to compare between the lifestyle afforded to teachers in the past vs teachers in the present. Not everyone wants to live in non-mature estates, for various reasons. A 4rm in matured estates cost $600k to 800k nowadays. Even if husband and wife earn $5k each after a number of years teaching, a flat of such prices will cost at least 5x their annual income. And both couple need to work continuously to afford paying the instalments, and any stints of NPL will severely strain their finances.

Cost of living is kinda out of our scope here leh

I think this is considered fast? I'm assuming you will be getting your cluster sup interview for the KP role shortly, and doubt your school will let you leave quite immediately (maybe after 2 years?). But moving to HQ will definitely help to boost you further in terms of exposure and experience.

Can hear from the rest too on your rate of promotion and how you can plan forward. kudos!

Ask got use meh? Talk to your RO about your aspirations. Yes, it doesn't mean that you ask = you get. But you must make sure that your school understands your aspirations. Then if they decide to support you, they will know what to do.

As for your qn, there is no fixed benchmark as it depends on your age and other factors.

As mentioned by another poster...
Matured estate bto easily 600-800k lo!

These kinda comments really show why some people cannot rise into SEO ranks. It's the lack of big picture thinking. MOE is part of the civil service. If you're saying that teachers are paid too low and cannot afford BTOs, you're essentially saying that BTOs are out of the reach of a large segment of the Singaporean population.

We're talking about younger teachers starting out here. Should they really be aiming for 600k to 800k btos when they're just starting out in their careers? Whatever happened to financial responsibility and thinking long term. You have a long career ahead of you, there's nothing stopping you from buying a more expensive house as both your incomes increase. Why must have it now when you're only establishing yourself in the workplace.

Really is entitlement mentality.

This is not about MOE not paying teachers enough. This is about the choices that the teachers make. If your personal preference is to live in a matured estate, then it's your decision that you make.

If you want to take NPL then it's also your choice which has an impact on your finances. Why would you blame moe for the fact that they don't pay you luxuriously enough that you can lead a life of doing nothing?

Actually, I think the point of that poster is to raise the fact that teachers' salaries have fallen behind a lot as compared to the past. Yes, there have been adjustments, but I think the cost of living has increased so much that the salary can no longer catch up.

Yes, we can indeed make our own choices. But for those who wish to have a family (i.e. 1 or more kids - which the civil service ironically encourages despite salaries falling behind), they definitely have to sacrifice work and hence, income.

I don't think boomer teachers in the past have such serious consequences with making such choices. They can rise up quickly into the SEO ranks 20 years ago and raise 2 kids, with some small struggles perhaps, but not as bad as today's teachers (who are also parents). They at least are able to still spare sufficient time and finances with their kids while working full-time.

Why do you think more and more teachers simply choose to remain single, or childless now?

To be fair in this argument though, I think all sectors in Singapore are facing this issue. But statistically speaking, teachers' salaries have indeed fallen behind as compared to the past (considering the cost of living then and now).

But it explains why teachers are more career-minded nowadays. While nobody expects to become rich in teaching, but at the very least, shouldn't be living like a church mouse either.

“teachers' salaries have indeed fallen behind as compared to the past (considering the cost of living then and now” - really?? What is this evidence base for this?!

Please let’s not forget that teachers are the premium scheme in MOE with Connect Plan that has just been increased. In addition to the allowances provided.

If teachers are church mice, then many in Singapore are living dead already

95% of BTOs are reserved for first timer, with an income ceiling of 14k.
As a civil servant, you should know that this indicates that such flats are targeted at first timers, not upgraders.
And for many people, the couples are both working, and it is necessary to live near the parents for childcare arrangements, or need to look after elderly parents.

You speak as if connect plan is a huge deal.

If you average out the payouts, it is merely 4k a year, plus minus. Not to mention that when they give out as one lump sum, you end up paying more income tax, and the real amount remaining after tax is even lower. A premium scheme means nothing if actual salaries end up falling behind non-premium scheme folks. Yes, EOs might have higher starting pay. But unless you are a higher tier scholar, slower rate of promotion will erode away that 'premium'. Is it still a 'premium scheme' when after 10 years of service, you are 1-2 paygrades behind your fellow farmer peers in other ministries, and earning correspondingly lesser than them? Most in other ministries will hit assistant director or senior assistant director by their mid 30s, and some even reaching deputy director. MOE GEO5 is only around senior manager/assistant director. If you have friends in other branches of public service, feel free to check with them. See whether they see the EO scheme and EO pay as premium or not.

Many in Singapore are doing way better than teachers. Remember when the woodgrove sec misappropriation case came on the news, many people were surprised by how little the HOD made. If HOD pay is considered bad, ordinary teacher pay is even worse. Remember, university participation rate of each cohort is around 20-25%, and MOE doesn't hire grads with terrible results. When comparing salaries, should be comparing with fellow uni grads. Is your pace keeping pace with fellow public service peers of your age?

I don't know enough about typical structure to know for sure, but is this statement accurate? It seems to imply the majority of officers in other ministries are ADs or higher (which I suspect is probably untrue).

If you're comparing faster climbers, then should it be pegged against GEO5/SEO1 instead?

And if you're using HOTs for comparison, should GEO5/GEO5A ceiling be benchmarked against SM at most? Think AD would have a fair amount of managerial duties that HOTs have zero interest in.

the connect plan being an attractive form of retention payout - an "extra monetary reward" is actually a common misconception haha

in fact many current teachers dont know about this since there werent any transparent and public calculations. but if u calculate it yourself down to specific numbers u will realise...

total up your total income using the connect plan window, such as year 1 to 4 or year 5 to 7 and so on. including the connect plan payment, the total income actually doesnt differ much from many public service sectors WITHOUT a retention payout, which is rather strange

dig deeper and ask around and u will realise that its due to the lower PB quantum for GEOs compared to other PS agencies

best verification is to ask your MX counterparts lor? ask your AM or OM? they always say jealous of GEOs coz got connect plan but their annual PB is higher.. end up will still be the same

essentially...take a sum from ur PB every year, multiply by 3 or 4 years and brand it as "extra monetary reward" for staying in service, then return ur own money back to u lol

the issue here is when salaries are not transparent, there is a lack of knowledge to compare and see if u are paid for what u are worth...

Comparing pace of normal, non-scholar farmers. Excluded the scholars, because they have accelerated promotion.

In many ministries, grads start out immediately with the title of manager. They may be a single-contributor, or manage non-grads, e.g. dip-holder executives.
Manager MX13,MX12 > senior manager MX 11> assistant director MX11A
Next time you liaise with other ministries for school events, go and observe the seniority and age of their officers.

As for MOE, think you can see for yourself when officers move to HQ. SHs are senior managers, HODs are ADs. VPs are DDs, and Ps are Ds.

Which track is faster, I think everyone can see for themselves.

The general public is still stuck in the 70s, 80s perception of teachers: go home right after last lesson, shake leg for the whole school holiday, salary can buy landed house or condo in central location.

Wisest comments thus far

It’s quite safe to say that the market value of EOs does drop drastically over time. Why so? We don’t even have the chance/energy/time to keep up with work skills. For example, how many of us would know how to use SQL/pyton? These are critical skills in the workforce these days.

Yet, most of us EOs are chiefly preoccupied with marking/planning/holistic development of students. The most IT thing we do is to check email and try to keep up with so many updates from SLS office.

No wonder we are underpaid la. Which employer would want us?

There has never been an 800k bto. The max was 737k. And that is BEFORE subsidies. This all boils down to expectations. Should a teacher couple 2-3 years working really think that they're in a position to get a new flat in a premium area? Too atas to stay in a normal area like the rest of peasants is it.

Current GEO 5A Salary Range
 

Do note that the current Salary range for 5A is $5650 - $9050

May I know how long have u been in service / at GEO5? Wonder when ceiling might be reached for me…