Hi guys, may I check with yall. If we do not clear the stipulated 4 modules required of our cs2 during our undergraduate years in NTU/NUS, will we be required to take them in NIE - during PGDE.

Yes you need to
 

I presume you are a scholar. No but It is a contractual agreement to do what is stated in the contract. Failing which, MOE reserves the right to void the contract and recover the damages.

With the excess teachers, esp in the JC track, I would just complete the 4 modules.

Yes..
 

Some CS yes

PGDE untrained contract teaching
 

Is anyone waiting for interview by moe?

Hi fellow teachers, just want to do a rough benchmark with the market.

I have been teaching for a total of 6+ years and generally B performer with the occasional A. I was told this is roughly top 10-20% performance compared to the rest.

To be honest I feel my progression especially in terms of pay so far is rather disappointing. Currently SEO1 level drawing only ~6.8k even graduating with FCH from NTU and having served NS.

Is this suppose to be normal for a top performer? I understand teaching is not just about the dollars, but frankly seeing so many of my colleagues taking a lepak one corner approach and go through motion with average ratings, I don't seem to be progressing much faster.

If this carries on I might consider venturing outside to the private education sector as some of my ex-colleagues who have gone out are drawing significantly higher.

Let's say you started off with a salary of 3.3k and worked for 7 years, with your current of 6.8k+ would mean you had an average increment of 500 per annum which is considered quite a huge amount. I think you are not being shortchanged :)

After the recent saga on the PE teacher who took upskirt video I can't help but to think of a few acquaintance who went on in life to become a PE teacher. And all of them have some kind of social interactions deficit, or in other words weird.

I think this kinda weirdness gets under the radar as we all grew older but it was really obvious when everyone was younger.

Then again I am not in the teaching field so I can't generalize the PE profession. What are your experiences though?

Life is all about choices, you cannot have the best of both worlds. Base on what you mention I assume you are around 31 years old drawing at least 18 months package as a top performer, that works out to be $122,400 give or take.

This sort of money at your age isn't shabby even by private sector standards. Of course you want to compare against cream of the crop in global MNC or foreign bank then yes it is just a fraction of what they can get.

But have you considered other things like working hours, less complicated work environment, job security etc.? You want to compare salary should at least compare with the non-scholars in other ministries and stat boards, compare with the elite in private sector is just apple vs orange.

Quick question
 

Hey, was wondering if any PGDE teachers here can provide insight. I really like the school I'm doing contract teaching rn. What are the chances I'll get posted here again after I finish 16 months in NIE? Is it possible?

SEO1 after 6 years is pretty fast. Faster then some scholars, even - it implies a promotion every 1-2 years. Actually, as an SEO1 (thus an office holder of some sort) you should be able to compare the progression of your peers within your school. No point comparing against GEO5s who've reached the pay ceiling and are just coasting along.

If you are dissatisfied with this level of renumeration then private practice is probably more suitable for you, unless you are holding out in hope of eventually hitting superscale.

Talk to your HOD about your desire to stay - if they want you too, they can request to HR that you be posted back (if there are vacancies available). Depends on whether HR grants it, though - it's not necessarily a given.

No harm giving it a try if you really like it there, though!

i'm in my 4th year now, never served NS (female), FCH but only drawing 5k as GEO 3. You're so much better off than me!

Whats the annual increase like for a teacher anyway? For a average performer I assume its ard 300-400?

So happy to find this thread!
Can anyone advise how to increase the chance to get shortlisted in PGDE?
I'm looking for mid career switch and I applied for it in March this year but didn't get shortlisted. I was unemployed now. Will this reduce my chance to get shortlisted?
A little background fyi. I was an engineer in chemical industry. I resigned when I got pregnant because I had to travel alot for work purposw. I just stay at home until gave birth and now that I settled the daycare of my baby and I'm ready to return to full time employment.
TIA for the kind advices!

Aed lbs
 

Hi, are there any AED LBS teachers here? Was wondering how long it'll take for them to get back to us after the interview. It's been a month. Not sure if that's good or bad.

Thanks!

Can I get someone's advice regarding the current salary offered to me?

Basically, I'm a mid-career applicant switching into the teaching career now. (Worked for 4 years in a non-teaching field) I understand that I will be getting a pay-cut for sure. However, the starting pay seems to be on the low end for a mid-career switch applicant.

I'm getting offered $3.6k+, while I heard fresh grads are getting ard $3.5k. I graduated with 2nd Upp. Do they not take into consideration the 4 years worked or is there other arrangements?

Anyone that have some experience pls do offer some advice to me. :)

Hi there, sorry for cutting in but may I ask you a few question as follows:
- r u taking PGDE scheme?
- do u hv any teaching experience like part time tutor etc?
- r u a graduate of Singapore Uni?
- r u active in cc?

I wish to get PGDE. I'm a graduate from Malaysia Uni and I was an engineer in chemical industry. Currently unemployed. I applied PGDE before but didn't get the interview so I'm trying to figure out what is the qualification and requirements they want. Any inputs would be very much appreciated!

At the end of the day MOE does not entertain salary negotiation. If you like then accept the offer, if not just move on. No point thinking of all these distractions of whether fair or unfair, compare with others etc.

am i slow?
 

I'm a female, graduated with FCH and is seconded to an independent school though i am still with MOE.

Entered the teaching service in July 2013.
Performance grades were as follows:

2013: C
2014: B
2015 (promoted to GEO 3): C+
2016: C (had HL of 30 days though officially I took only 7, took 6 days marriage leave too)
2017: most likely C (since I am on 16 weeks ML)

Looking at my peers, my male colleagues are already promoted to SH. I am still a low level GEO 3. I am thinking why is my progression so slow.. is it normal?

If what you are after is promotion, then your secondment to independent sch is a bad decision from the start. Promotion is fastest in govt schools.

If what you are after is focus well on T&L, with dimmer prospects of promotion, then independent sch is the place to go.

Your expectations are totally not realistic. 4 years as a mostly C performer and you want to be promoted to SH? Like that the whole school must be full of 10 years exp below average to average teachers holding HOD/VP positions then...

(This is just what I've heard - no first-hand or second-hand observations to share regarding this!)

I've heard that unrelated experience is counted at about 50%. So you might get about 2 years' increment, which is maybe… $200? Shouldn't expect too much here.

Additionally, I've also seen people commenting that promotion for mid-career hires tends to be faster to allow them to catch up with peers. Don't know if this is applicable to someone who's only worked outside for 4 years, though.

That said, like someone else commented - there's no negotiation, so you just have to decide if you want to job enough to take it at those terms!

Some people have no sense of proportion, want to join CS then expect MNC style management program progression. Somemore with barely average type of performance level even in CS...

Just graduated from NIE PGDE Pri in june.
Never receive any notification of promotion or pay incrment until yesterday.

Promoted from Geo 2(untrained) to Geo3. The letter stated 1 year probation. What is this probation about? They will remove me from Geo3 and change to Geo2(trained) if i don't meet their expectations?

Salary changed from 3.6k to 4.5k. Increment supposed to be july yearly but now changed to june (earlier better I guess). My fellow NIE friends increased 200-500 because they are fresh grad. And also they never jump to Geo3. I was quite surprised, I thought I need to wait one year at least to be promoted to Geo3.

To a fellow forumers asking to go back to same school you did contract teaching after NIE, please express your interest to your principal. I did relief teaching, contract teaching, practicum and final posting all in the same school. I happy, school happy, MOE HR happy, all happy, no need headache who not happy with posting. Just voice out, they should be more than happy to take you back (if they like you).

I've never understood what probation is about either - I assume it gives them one year to decidedly aren't cut out for teaching. If so, that's really terrible. Haven't seen anyone fail probation before - by right, they should have been cut by practicum stage, if that bad.

GEO3 after NIE is definitely unusual. Because of mid-career? The fastest I've seen is indeed after one year (for males with NS). Even slower for ladies (maybe after 2-3 years).

Hi fellow coursemate. I can confirm I received a similar increment and jump to GEO 3 too. Worked for about 5 years previously.

By the way, I guess probation is normal for all new staff. As we were previously only on contract, now we are finally trained and considered permanent staff. Don't think they will downgrade you to GEO 2 if you don't clear probation. More likely, you will be given some chances to clear probation, which may even be extended if necessary. But if you could clear your practicum, you shouldn't have much issues clearing probation unless you screwed up somehow. Otherwise, they could probably terminate your employment if you really, really cannot clear the probation period.

I failed probation LOL (after failing and passing practicum on second try)
Paid about 20K indemnity as I was a teaching award holder.

P.S. Now doing well and doing what i set out to do in a tuition centre :)

P.S. **** MOE

How are the working hours like per week in a tuition centre?

What happens if I fail probation? I barely scrapped through in my practicum...

May I know the reason you failed practicum and probation? Like you kinda knew about that before you actually failed? What went wrong?

I couldn't submit most lesson plans

(This question is only directed to teachers or ex teachers or those with real anecdotal evidence - spouse is a teacher etc..)

How is the workload of a teacher. 7-5pm? Given that one leaves school at 5pm on average, is it possible not to bring work home?

Also, is it possible to moonlight giving 3-4 private tuitions while juggling workload as a teacher (assuming you aren't aiming to promote) and just want to be a simple teacher - aka do not take up more duties.

During off peak periods it's possible to finish everything if you stay a little later, for peak periods I would say it's quite impossible. There were some days I had to finish markings to meet deadlines even if it meant working pass midnights.

A few tuition is manageable some times but it gets very difficult during certain period, I don't recommend taking up more than 2 assignments. Pumping up many assignments for the extra $$$ not worth the effort unless you really single, no family, no friends & just work & sleep everyday.

Hi teachers,
Are teachers really busy that you have to work till at least 5pm almost every day?
What about holidays? That you barely have time to go on vacation? Esp those better performing teachers because you are given more tasks? Is it true?

How is life as a PE teacher like? No marking/form classes... isn't it the best?

May I know when are the peak periods in a year? Also, are you teaching humanities/language or science/math?

No marking no need set papers no homework, no classroom management issues cos rowdy students all enjoy PE lessons. No parents to question over results and teaching. No consultations.

The most challenging is to organize sports day. But just repeat past year proposals can already.

It really depends on the school. There are over 200 pri and sec schs as well as JCs, and each sch has its discretion in setting the official time for teachers to leave the workplace. In my previous school, teachers can only leave after 2.45pm on Mon, Tues & Thurs; 3.45pm on Wed; and 12.30pm on Friday. Some schools are quite liberal - 2pm or even 1pm. In schools where the Principal or management breathes down the necks of teachers, it's probably 4pm or 5pm for everybody. I'm glad that in my current school, the management trusts us, so our official departure time is quite good.

Yup it's possible to moonlight. I'm currently giving tuition to 4 students. In August alone I brought back $2000 in cash, so I save up my salary in full. (I live with my parents and I'm planning to get married soon). Tuition is indeed lucrative, and I rather use spare time helping other students as well as earning extra cash, than to plan sch activities or other time-consuming stuff. As long as you fulfill your minimum duties e.g. taking care of form class, planning lessons, marking etc, no one can fault you in sch.

The concept of whether giving tuition is worth it depends on whether you think long term or short term. For those who want fast cash and/or not willing to climb the corporate ladder, teaching tuition can yield anything from $400 - $3000 extra. It's easy OT money, but nothing fantastic.

But if you really want big money in the long term, you will need to start early to invest outside office hours in management track and doing all the extra projects, CCA, studies etc. The rewards will take some time to materialize as SH/LH level is only slightly above normal teacher.

Once you reach HOD/VP it starts to get lucrative. If you reach superscale level then of course the money's much more then anything a normal teacher can get even if you whack all your remaining hours in tuition.

Depends on individual.

HOD may still be possible. To reach the rank of VP and beyond, it is rather impossible for normal teachers (there are exceptions of course). These positions are mainly reserved for the overseas scholars, who are groomed to take those positions.