Career as Teacher

Originally Posted by Unregistered

On my way to HQ next year on FHQ posting, but already thinking of throwing letter. Have been internally appointed as SH for one year then HOD this year, with full teaching load. Not yet a confirmed KP because only promoted to geo4 this year. The work life balance is nonexistent. My normal teacher job eats up 60-80 hours a week, then I have to pull multiple allnighters a week to complete HOD work. I estimate I work about 100-110 hours per week in total.

School says I have high CEP and a good future but my promotion rate doesn't really match up to expectations.

I suppose HQ protects our worklife "harmony" a bit better? Help me understand if I should just give up now and seek greener pastures elsewhere..

Depends on which division/department you get posted to in HQ. Some are workaholic units and you are competing with higher calibre officers in ranking so whatever good PB you are getting now in school, may just be a C or D in HQ.

sometimes its hard to decide whether to be a big fish in a small pond or a small fish in a big pond.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Depends on which division/department you get posted to in HQ. Some are workaholic units and you are competing with higher calibre officers in ranking so whatever good PB you are getting now in school, may just be a C or D in HQ.

Which division/branch/unit should I consider to join HQ if I really want to stand out?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

KPs are offloaded from CCA, Civics and Teaching Classes to supposedly do more admin.

However, some KPs are not good role models.

MOE or civil service in general is unlike private sector where the higher position u take, the more salary u get, the more shaky your job security if you do not perform. Why should private sector companies pay someone so much if someone else can do the same role for a lower pay?

In contrast, in MOE, the higher up u go, some kps will slack as the kp feel that he/she is more or less up there already. Their salary is already higher than the other non kp teachers , but at the same time its not as if they will be fired or demoted if they underperform, so some of them will just do bare minimum n continue to hog the HOD spot.

they will then push everything to people under them to do, telling officers under them that if they want to be promoted faster, then they have to do more. V good excuse to dump everything to the lower geo officers. But the fact is only some of the lower geo officers will get promoted as i believe there's a quota. so inevitably, some of the lower geo officers will have to do a lot but be denied promotion. Sooner or later, these few sacrificial lambs will burn out n leave the service. Then there will be new blood coming in. Kps will just repeat the process of dumping all the work to people under them n telling them they have to work harder to be promoted faster. Only some will be promoted n some will be sacrificed. Rinse n repeat. All the while KPs are just relaxing up there while teachers under them work like crazy, with some being sacrificed.

MOE or civil service in general is unlike private sector where the higher position u take, the more salary u get, the more shaky your job security if you do not perform. Why should private sector companies pay someone so much if someone else can do the same role for a lower pay?

In contrast, in MOE, the higher up u go, some kps will slack as the kp feel that he/she is more or less up there already. Their salary is already higher than the other non kp teachers , but at the same time its not as if they will be fired or demoted if they underperform, so some of them will just do bare minimum n continue to hog the HOD spot.

they will then push everything to people under them to do, telling officers under them that if they want to be promoted faster, then they have to do more. V good excuse to dump everything to the lower geo officers. But the fact is only some of the lower geo officers will get promoted as i believe there's a quota. so inevitably, some of the lower geo officers will have to do a lot but be denied promotion. Sooner or later, these few sacrificial lambs will burn out n leave the service. Then there will be new blood coming in. Kps will just repeat the process of dumping all the work to people under them n telling them they have to work harder to be promoted faster. Only some will be promoted n some will be sacrificed. Rinse n repeat. All the while KPs are just relaxing up there while teachers under them work like crazy, with some being sacrificed.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

MOE or civil service in general is unlike private sector where the higher position u take, the more salary u get, the more shaky your job security if you do not perform. Why should private sector companies pay someone so much if someone else can do the same role for a lower pay?

In contrast, in MOE, the higher up u go, some kps will slack as the kp feel that he/she is more or less up there already. Their salary is already higher than the other non kp teachers , but at the same time its not as if they will be fired or demoted if they underperform, so some of them will just do bare minimum n continue to hog the HOD spot.

they will then push everything to people under them to do, telling officers under them that if they want to be promoted faster, then they have to do more. V good excuse to dump everything to the lower geo officers. But the fact is only some of the lower geo officers will get promoted as i believe there's a quota. so inevitably, some of the lower geo officers will have to do a lot but be denied promotion. Sooner or later, these few sacrificial lambs will burn out n leave the service. Then there will be new blood coming in. Kps will just repeat the process of dumping all the work to people under them n telling them they have to work harder to be promoted faster. Only some will be promoted n some will be sacrificed. Rinse n repeat. All the while KPs are just relaxing up there while teachers under them work like crazy, with some being sacrificed.

Don’t generalise the situation just because of what you may be experiencing. There are bad KPs, just like there are cmi JHs. There are also responsible KPs who slog their guts out. Behind the scene, KPs have additional department planning and other duties which you may not be fully aware. The offloading of their teaching periods is not a given. In some schools, the KPs still take on cca and perform FT-ship on top of their teaching load.

I have my fair share of encounters with useless KPs who did nothing but shoot their mouths. There are also extremely nice KPs who developed me and supported me well in my educational journey.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Don’t generalise the situation just because of what you may be experiencing. There are bad KPs, just like there are cmi JHs. There are also responsible KPs who slog their guts out. Behind the scene, KPs have additional department planning and other duties which you may not be fully aware. The offloading of their teaching periods is not a given. In some schools, the KPs still take on cca and perform FT-ship on top of their teaching load.

I have my fair share of encounters with useless KPs who did nothing but shoot their mouths. There are also extremely nice KPs who developed me and supported me well in my educational journey.

Sometimes, it makes us wonder, how did some of these people become KPs.

KPs in schools are just small fries in da real world.

Can any KP colleagues break down the CEP subgrades for us? What are the different CEPs?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Can any KP colleagues break down the CEP subgrades for us? What are the different CEPs?

There are fancy codes, but you don't actually need to know them. Basically they map to the highest subgrade you are currently expected to be promoted to.

GEO5 (default)
SEO1 (have been recognised as having potential to go further; required for SH/LH/ST appointment - and I think HQ posting?)

Beyond that, it's pretty much just increasing step by step... SEO2, SEO3, Superscale H, etc...

(additional complexity - CEP also covers tracks, i.e. Teaching/Leadership/Specialist tracks, so it's possible to be recognised as a potential ST even if you're not so great at administration. But for the most part, the above should give you a rough idea of how CEP works.)