I have finished 8 years as a GEO4 and still no news of promotion. Never received any adverse grades before. Not sure why it is so slow. Should I call HR to ask?

Possible. My school has less than 10 GEO3s left also, and most are BTs

Once you start service, your FCH has no relevance to your work appraisal performance. If you got a C-, it just means you are a below average officer who therefore should have more dwell time in your current substantive grade.

getting C- won't be considered for promotion for 3 years

2020 rankings not considered
2021 rankings not considered
2022 rankings not considered
2023 rankings considered for promotion
promote April 2024 onwards?

seems like a lot of teachers got C- in 2020

What's FCH?

first class honours

not entirely true as promotion is dependent by work done as reflected by performance grading and CEP

these 3 years are a crucifixion indeed. how will i know if i am eligible again? from 2021 2022 and 2023, i got all C's with the highest PB. Like that also not eligible? When i found out that i was not on the promotion list, i actually felt I have no self-worth. Like in the eyes of HR, am I worthless and useless? am I so horrible to the point that I am in the same sub-grade as a BT who just got their GEO 3? my batch mates have left service while I am the fool who wasted my youth to bite the bullet, persevere but it amounts to nothing. Then at the end of the day what will they say? that you are lousy, never improve, others improve faster than you and all the bs or those nitty gritty things to try to bring you down.

these 3 years are a crucifixion indeed. how will i know if i am eligible again? from 2021 2022 and 2023, i got all C's with the highest PB. Like that also not eligible? When i found out that i was not on the promotion list, i actually felt I have no self-worth. Like in the eyes of HR, am I worthless and useless? am I so horrible to the point that I am in the same sub-grade as a BT who just got their GEO 3? my batch mates have left service while I am the fool who wasted my youth to bite the bullet, persevere but it amounts to nothing. Then at the end of the day what will they say? that you are lousy, never improve, others improve faster than you and all the bs or those nitty gritty things to try to bring you down?

A lot of misconception of promotion floating on this forum, can share some perspectives.

1) Promotion has slowed down. This is unpleasant for some of us who have colleagues who enjoyed the rapid accelerated promotion in the 90s. Call it luck. It is life. No need to compare.

2) C grade is for people who perform at their job. It sounds unpleasant. But the number of hours spent teaching your students/consultations/competitions are all already paid to you in your salary. Don’t complain that others can wayang better. If you want to stand out, then prove to everyone that you are doing more. Use social media. Use the internet. Dont think small. But how many are willing to other than complain?

When will the pay information section be updated on HRP/Workpal?

Any OYEA nominees received email or letter about being selected for interview?

i took 7 years to be promoted to geo4, even though I did OIC, TIC, hq stint etc. I feel that MOE must have missed out, and I plucked up my courage to ask my boss and HR in 2023 why am I not promoted?!and the following year i got it. so i suggest you try asking your RO or HR. good luck.

s://.straitstimes.com/singapore/moe-to-rotate-heads-of-departments-who-have-served-in-the-same-school-for-more-than-eight-years

Why no one talks about this piece of good news?

Because this forum is probably filled with many ppl who want to rise and maybe be in a position of filling seat forever and hence its not a good piece of new to them? haha

My own HOD is above 55 and hence will continue to stay on hahah. been in this school since she joined teaching after nie

they may rotate, but eventually the hod are still the ones determining the performance and promotion, evil hod will just attack another set of hardworking teachers. so i really dont see the point of this. if its abt rotating the hod DOWN and letting others rotate upwards then maybe that will be better.

Is it possible for females to get promoted a year after being a BT?

yes if u choose to do NS. this gender equality nonsense is rubbish and turning into female proviledge. why didn’t you choose to do NS?

What are you implying? I’m a male and of course I did NS. Are you assuming something?

Don't be discouraged. I am from 2016 PGDE, last cohort to do 3 subjects specialisation within 1 year of PGDE. In 2017, I had a newborn, I didn't even apply for any paternity leave and wasted 2weeks of paternity leave, yes, 14 days of paternity leave, with the naive thoughts of wanting to contribute more and minimise the disruption of students' learning. I wanted to concentrate and do well. I taught P4 English and Math in 2017 from June onwards and got emplaced to GEO3 in 2018 July/August (officially October I think). Not sure whether it was fast or slow. I was a mid-career in late 30s.

In 2018, I was tasked to teach P5 English and Math as a BT for the same class. In 2019 , I was tasked to follow up to their P6 and teach the same class English and Math. I was also in-charge to help set up the peer support leadership in the school. I burnt the June holidays as I had 2 weeks of master class for the P6 class as I taught 2 P6 subjects, training for Peer Support Leaders and also CCA training for Chinese Orchestra SYF. Ended up, I got C- for 2019 for as an overloaded BT who taught 2 P6 core subjects and heavily loaded with CCA and committee work. I was also the Level Discipline Master for P5&6.

My honest opinion, they planned for me to fail. The school leaders failed to plan fair workload for me and put me up for failure. I wondered what the more experienced teachers were doing that they needed a BT to teach 2 P6 subjects to prepare them for PSLE.

In 2019, my P6 class got 37 As and 3 Bs for Math. For English, I could not remember the results except for a chinese girl who was with me since P4 after I came out from NIE in 2017 June . She followed me up since P4. She had a Chinese divorcee mum who pleaded for me to help her in her English during P4 PTM as the mum said she could not afford any English tuition for her and she could not help her in English as she came from China. The P4 girl trusted me to read more English storybooks, created her own word banks, and got an A* for 2020 PSLE eventually. I got a C- for 2019. Reason unknown.

In 2020, my VP came to sat in with me during every EPMS right from the start of the year even after I mentioned I was uncomfortable to have him around with me and my RO. That year was filled with 6 to 8 lessons observations from RO, VP and a mentor they assigned to "help" me, claiming that I was underperforming. I got a D grade for 2020. I felt it was all set up.

In 2021, I applied for transfer during open posting. I was posted out in 2022 Jan. I also requested a change of RO in 2021. I got a C grade for work done in 2021. I should have applied for open posting before I got my D grade. I didn't understand why they wanted to "kill" me.

In my new school, I work as hard as usual, got B grade for 2022 and 2023. In 2024 Mar, I was informed I will be promoted. I am much happier in this new school. As usual, I tried my best for my students but the work is being recognised.

If you are in a toxic place, please try to get out. Go to a place which people will recognise you.

I also realised my ex-toxic-RO is now in a new school which my previous P who had promoted her. I am not sure what kind of relationship they are having. But, take care of your well-being. You don't know the politics behind. Go to somewhere which you can restart fairly. Leave the toxic environment.

yuu
 

unfortunately, such stories are not uncommon. once you’re ‘marked’, it’s almost impossible to overturn their planned outcome. best is to to move out of the toxic place. glad you made the right move!

just got notified that i am getting promoted to SEO1. this is my 10th year in trained service.

suffered a lot along the way, promotion doesn't feel that good

no didnt receive any...

which school? primary or secondary?

Er. Did you even read his first few paragraphs? Lol

Thank you for sharing. I feel so frustrated reading this and I’m so glad you’re in a much better place. Good piece of advice for everyone here too. I hope nobody feels like they need to stay in a place to prove their worth.

How does one get nominated for OYEA?

I’m also from the 2016 PGDE batch. You didn’t miss out on anything bro. I never had any C- or D and I’m also promoted the same time as you to the same rank. Thanks for sharing though. I also truly believe that must leave if someone is targeting you. I had a contract teacher in my previous school who was targeted by the then vp. She could never make it to NIE when he was around. Once he was gone, other KPs evaluated her and found nothing wrong with her. She was promptly sent to NIE since.

Asking a BT to teach P6 classes is crazy.

I am from the 2015 batch of BA degree programme
and I was given a C- in either 2019 or 2020 without any explanation from my RO. I was the OIC for so many school events, helped out for many after school intervention programmes but the SL felt I wasn't good enough to be promoted to a GEO4. They promoted a few teachers with fewer experience than me to geo 4 first. I was so mad knowing that someone or a few people were blocking my promotion and decided to transfer to a different school. Everyone told me u would have to wait 2 years before your new school promotes you because they need time to observe you. Guess what, I got promoted after working for only 8 months in a new school. They recognized my efforts and decided to nominate me for promotion.

If you are unhappy with your school, just leave..

Why doesn't it feel good? You worked hard for it and you got it. I'm in my 8th year and still in GEO3 leh.

That's quite fast. I am still waiting for my turn, 13th year in service.

u will never be happy in life if you are not grateful for what you have. others have suffered too but will never ever be seo…

so what was the exact problem with the ****ing VP? may he or she burn in hell if he or she wronged others

any idea why was your mother ****ing RO a bitch?

moral compass
 

are you sure you suffered, or are you part of those who inflicted suffering upon others?
if it doesnt feel good, you can reject the promotion. nobody forcing you to take up the promotion. could be your conscience telling you that there are others who’re probably more deserving

wah u sure so much ah.... immediately jump $2k just like that??? then y geo jump so little?

Hi, I'm a BT, mid career and PGDE graduated in 2022 and ranked GEO3 upon confirmation. Level rep and house master for the past 2 years in this school. Just gotten my promotion to GEO 4 last week. Not FCH. Is my CPE good?

Looking at the recent posts, I just feel the need to share with younger educators that a forum is a forum and its not the most accurate source of information. A lot of these reviews given by poor performers are one-sided, and tbh its not easy to get a D grade these days. Often, the officer's lack of self-awareness is the problem, hence don't be too trusting of these online stories and end up feeling jaded, because honestly its not that bad for the majority.

On those that are performing or want to perform, as the long suffering SEO1 has alluded to, leadership in school is increasingly difficult, increasingly toothless, more consultative/conducive -- for good or bad. Much like a DM who cannot really enforce the rules anymore. Be prepared to be tested and face extremely difficult colleagues in ur path to move up the ladder.

Long story short, take stories here with pinch of salt and practice discernment.

Wah this is quite a hard qns to ans. It really depends on who the other school sends as their CPE. It also depends on whether is it subject-specific. A non-science CPE invigilating a Science Practical exam may not be as ideal as a science CPE. Hope this answer your qns 😂😂

There's some misconception here as well. Promotion has slowed for average performers, but it's still quite fast for strong performers. I have been at my school for 10+ years and have seen plenty of 2-3 year promotions from GEO 3 to 4, and 3-4 years from GEO4 to 5. GEO5 to SEO1 and SEO1 to SEO2 usually longer but there's also some who get it in 3-4 years per grade. Not scholars, just good performers.

In a way the system is actually correcting itself? Gone are the days of just cruising and getting promoted, but if you are a consistently strong performer and your school KPs/SLs aren't toxic, chances are you will be recognized and get promoted.