Career as Teacher

(Teaching Bond

Tuition fees for all PGDE trainee teachers are fully paid by the Ministry of Education. While undergoing training at NIE, trainee teachers will receive a MONTHLY SALARY and year-end bonus.)



i saw this on MOE website for PGDE. may i know how much is the monthly salary that we will be receiving while undergoing PGDE training @ NTU / NIE? thanks.

Originally Posted by Ex Teacher

Back when I was in teaching,together with wife we make about $100k annually each. Yes there is nothing to shout about as some forummers here say but it was sufficient for us. We have one child,stay in a 3 rm HDB flat and drives a used 1.5L Jap car. Overseas travels were restricted mainly to Malaysia. At very most once every few years go HK. Personally I envy the top high flying bankers such as my secondary school classmates earning in excess of a million dollars annually but that is life I guess. Mediocre sandwiched life yes but teaching was fulfilling in certain ways. Life is short and fragile so we r quietly contented over the years.

I think u are your wife are very sensible! Your combined income is definitely not small either and yet u both are frugal which is good. Don't envy the bankers, did u ask them if they are happy? Do they have the time and/or energy to enjoy their 'riches'? Most of my peers and myself included are mentally stressed up such that even over weekend, we worry abt our targets and don't actually enjoy ourselves fully. Even on holidays. No perfect job in the world so good to know what makes u happy and contented.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I think u are your wife are very sensible! Your combined income is definitely not small either and yet u both are frugal which is good. Don't envy the bankers, did u ask them if they are happy? Do they have the time and/or energy to enjoy their 'riches'? Most of my peers and myself included are mentally stressed up such that even over weekend, we worry abt our targets and don't actually enjoy ourselves fully. Even on holidays. No perfect job in the world so good to know what makes u happy and contented.

Teacher need to work smart. You should learn to unlock your true value by giving tuition during weekends (to students whom do not come from your school). I was making in excess of 130k a year in my early 30s, through a combination of full time teaching and adhoc tuition. I do not compromise my quality for both cases, i just trade-off my personal entertainment time to earn that extra bucks at the same time helping weaker students to gain confidence and do better in their studies. have since switched to full-time tuition and making close to $200k pa. nothing close to bankers, but I am quite fine with it.

Just had my year work review done this week.
I am a female grad (1st class hons) and finished my PGDE in 2013, and the following are my performance grades.
Had an across the board promotion in 2015.

2013: GEO 1.1 : Perf Grade C
2014: GEO 1.1: Perf Grade B
2015: GEO 1A1: Perf Grade C+

Does anyone knows if these results are typical of a teacher? I haven't been asking around my peers or colleagues as these may be quite sensitive..

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Just had my year work review done this week.
I am a female grad (1st class hons) and finished my PGDE in 2013, and the following are my performance grades.
Had an across the board promotion in 2015.

2013: GEO 1.1 : Perf Grade C
2014: GEO 1.1: Perf Grade B
2015: GEO 1A1: Perf Grade C+

Does anyone knows if these results are typical of a teacher? I haven't been asking around my peers or colleagues as these may be quite sensitive..

Average lor. C+ is average and its normal to have some years a bit lower or a bit higher, its ok if u just wanna teach, get a normal increase every year and retire as senior teacher.

If ur thinking of cheonging the management track like becoming subject or level head then you need to buck up.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Just had my year work review done this week.
I am a female grad (1st class hons) and finished my PGDE in 2013, and the following are my performance grades.
Had an across the board promotion in 2015.

2013: GEO 1.1 : Perf Grade C
2014: GEO 1.1: Perf Grade B
2015: GEO 1A1: Perf Grade C+

Does anyone knows if these results are typical of a teacher? I haven't been asking around my peers or colleagues as these may be quite sensitive..

Grade C is supposed average for teachers if you don't screw up. It's also hard to go beyond C+ unless you are given some specific duties or high profile posts in the school. Its sad but teaching is seriously less valued than your performance in other areas (unless you come up with some teaching program that can be applied to every class rather than your own students). You need to volunteer for duties or aim to be in the CCA/Comms which are more highly valued (harder work but better rewards). From experience I have realised that if the principal values you highly, its easier to get a better grade. (although you still might have to take up position to earn it. Hey its better than taking up the position and still not being recognised right.)

In the past I had one motto for my teaching career. "MEME" Minimum effort Maximum Exposure. Sad but teaching is sometimes like the army. Super Wayang kind. If you look like you are doing alot (which you may or may not be doing), you get rewarded for it even if others might be doing more without being noticed. The whole performance grading is so subjective that I've given up thinking about it. Life is never fair and harping on it only makes one feel miserable. I teach because I like interacting and guiding students so I figured anything else is a bonus.

is it true that the perf grade of the year of promotion will usually be a C?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Average lor. C+ is average and its normal to have some years a bit lower or a bit higher, its ok if u just wanna teach, get a normal increase every year and retire as senior teacher.

If ur thinking of cheonging the management track like becoming subject or level head then you need to buck up.

oh would that mean that i should aim for at least a B every year?

Has anyone been shortlisted for the PGDE interview (Oct/Nov interview slots) for secondary school yet?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

oh would that mean that i should aim for at least a B every year?

If you are aiming to become HOD or VP in the future then you need consistent B- to B+ with the occasional A- performance.

Generally it is almost impossible to get this sort of rating unless you take up a lot of additional projects with increased visibility or have prominent nation wide achievements in building up some sort of CCA. In short, be prepared for lots of OT and weekend burns.

Teaching alone is probably going to get you mostly C/C+ with an occasional B- or B and that is only if you are really good.

Before you get all pumped up wanting to be superscale principal, I advise you to consider whether the long hours and playing politics are worth it. There are many people who burn countless weekends and midnights and all they could get in the end was just a subject head or HOD whose pay is only slightly higher than an experienced senior teacher.