You may wish to have a conversation with your RO, SSD or your SLs. Sometimes a rotation of RO can be good. Changing a school may not be all bad too. It may be difficult to compare to GEO 5 officers who have no desire to climb as they can be happy where they are. People always say they have no choice, but the fact is always that we have choices. It depends on what actions you want to take to change the status quo. I had a terrible RO once, I had to pull all stops to leave her sphere of influence. Never looked back ever since and I am happier where I am.

Now it's supply more than demand.

It's highly competitive these days. New teachers have very good credentials these days.

You need to clear the interview first, followed by a contract teaching (6 months or 1 year depending on when you get in) before they deem you suitable to enter the teacher training course (called PGDE).

I didn't clear the interview stage. And yes supply is more than demand these days, especially with the low birth rates and school mergers. Hence to even clear the first stage you need to be the best of the best, as the vacancies available is very little compared to last time.

Already done that, thanks for your "help".

Any other useful advice?

Do not join this shithole
 

Current teacher looking to leave here. For every 10 teachers who leave. 7 of them are good teachers. Some leave because of the crazy workload, some leave because the P is lousy (met a perv P and Oscar award winner P) and some simply lost the passion because of a combi of reasons. I am going to leave because of the lies they fed me. Sometimes I wonder if the SLs should get a work attachment in the private sector.. they seem like oblivious to what is happening on the ground. They claim they know but make crazy assertions based on some crazy tale by a KP. Don't get me wrong, there are kind and wonderful KPs but they are far and few. SLs on the other hand, i don't have much good things to say about them. if u meet a genuine one, u r lucky. Actually I thought I met one genuine one before but she turned out to be horrible person behind the scenes.

Advice: The starting pay is good but that is where it ends. The politics will suck your passion dry very quickly. The ranking system may see your friends become enemies. some will not hesitate to sabo u. SLs and some KPs (because they are pressured by the Ps) will lie to make to stay. Sometimes i wonder what kind of a person you need to be in order to be a SL. The young will be taxed and they will claim that they want to stretch you when in the end, makes no diff because favouritism is highly practiced in some schools. The P is like some god in the school, surrounded by a bunch of wayangs. So if you are wayang, you will survive well in most schools unless your P is an enlightened one.

Request a change of RO or school? Spoken to your SLs?

Looking to transfer to teach PE in primary school.

Can I ask if PE teachers in Primary school are usually single subject specialist or are PE teachers in primary school usually required to teach addition subject/subjects?

Some SLs dun take this very lightly. they may proceed to blacken your record. Sometimes feel like a prisoner to them. they can get away with all these.

Dun fall into the pit
 

I was told to suck it up too despite making me do so much extra. the thing about schools is that meritocracy in terms of leadership track is skewed. In the end, they decided to appt the one as HOD when that person did not even contribute much in terms of the dept-wise. If the SLs like you, you can do almost anything and get away with it but if you are in the doghouse, they will milk u dry and scold for stupid things that u will not even scold your own child for. And when u question their decision, they give lame reasons like - oh u r very young and your runway is long. so I guess at the end of the day age does play a role unless u are a scholar who is not condemned.

My take - depends on the situation. if your RO is in favour with the SLs, dun do it. just change school. becos if you do it, the SLs may just kill u once and for all.

I agree with u. however, young teachers are leaving constantly because of an ageing issue in the fraternity.

Many old teachers will never leave the service until retirement and the thing about this is that the young teachers will need to be (over)stretched to cover some of their duties. the number of young teachers entering is low now so those that were young are entering their 30s. many of them are now looking for career advancement or more time with their newly formed family. but many of the old teachers including SLs do not seem to understand that. as a result, they keep losing good teachers and subject heads becos many HODs and SLs are just looking after themselves first. I had one HOD who does not even strong subject mastery - I was like how on earth u get there? wayang probably.

if u meet a good RO, trust me they dun last very long - and side track - for some strange reason, the environment can make u very bitchy. dun join this line. low increment and politicking half the time. If u are not good, confirm sure get taken advantage of.

Nowadays, mostly single subject specialisation. PE teachers in my school only teach PE. More teaching periods but no marking, no remedial, etc.

Actually I'm curious. Is it right to skip the chain of command and go to the SLs to provide negative feedback about your current RO or to ask for a change of RO?

If you have tried to speak to your RO but nothing has change, then yes. Definitely must let SLs know.

Educators are not soldiers. Why is there even a chain of command? What is stopping you from speaking to anyone?

It could just be your school. I'm pretty sure different schools have different cultures. Good schools have very low turnover rate, regardless of old or young officers.

Sidetrack a bit, anyone knows if non-teaching staff in independent schools are considered civil servant and entitled to bonuses given by MOE i.e. civil servant bonuses, VB, etc.? Thanks.

Hi understand that promotion is during Apr or oct, but any idea when will P receive the promotion list? Possible that P already received the promotion list already but will only announce during Apr?
Also I heard that have to get a certain performance grade for consecutive years before able to get promoted, is that true?

Thank you in advance!

Attrition rate
 

Any idea which Sec sch in Singapore has high attrition rate for teachers?

If you are under MOE's payroll, then you're a civil servant.

Yes, you need to get C at least to be considered for promotion. All officers deemed ready for promotion will already had been assessed during ranking in previous work year before the names are submitted to HQ.

all schools are good schools? kidding.

agree - so far the 2 schools I have been at are horrid at man-management skills. still looking for that elusive school that you are sure of. 😜

SINGAPORE — In light of the Covid-19 outbreak, state investor Temasek will be implementing a salary freeze for all its employees, including promotion increases, for its April compensation exercise.

Wah. Civil service is following suit? Cos temasek is like already representing government.

Read more at s://.todayonline.com/singapore/salary-freeze-all-temasek-employees-senior-management-may-take-voluntary-pay-cut

Are you a superscale officer and/or senior management? If you are not, you don't have much to worry about. At most, AVC this year will be low, but your 13 months' basic salary and PB are secure.

will increment be safe? or will it be freezed too

Not frozen, but it will be low. Just like AVC, the budget for merit increment also fluctuates based on economic performance.

Oh no, promotion increment too?

Flexi Adjunct
 

Hi, I’m a teacher of 7-8 years at GEO4. I’m considering switching to Flexi-Adjunct as I just can’t take the demands of a language teacher and the time away from family, as I’m too busy setting, marking, planning and prepping, is taking its toll on my emotional and mental health. I’d like to know what’s the range for the salary if I switch? Does anyone know?

HR does not give us a good idea of what the algorithms and formulae are, but we know for sure that economic performance contributes to some small variability.

Depends on the workload (on paper). It can be as little as half, or 2/3 pay.

In practice, the workload is almost the same besides having to stay back for CCA. My school's FAJTs are deployed as form teachers and do heck of a lot of extra work beyond what they're paid for, often staying back as late as some GEO2/3 full-time teachers.

Are there other FAJTs in your school/the school you're aiming to get hired in? Check with them about their "paper" deployment vs. their actual workload to decide whether it is worth it.

Have been doing FAJT for a few years now. FAJTs are hourly rated according to your last drawn grade. Becos the availability of FAJTs are dependent on school needs,it is not so stable. Personally I have to switch schools when my services no longer needed. Overall monthly pay has dropped by half and considering you are not paid during June,Nov and Dec,the annual pay cut can drop by two-thirds. Do consider very carefully. But there are pros as well as you mentioned above.

May I know what is the hourly rate of a FAJT? For an experienced ex-MOE teacher who has been in the service for about 12 years, teaching EL in primary school. Thank you in advance!

What was your subgrade just before you left service? What was your last drawn salary?

Subgrade GEO4 and last drawn abt 6k.

Will no pay leave affect subsequent promotions and CEP
 

will taking no pay leave for say 1 year affect subsequent promotions and CEO when officer returns to service?

Depending on reasons for your NPL. If it is medical reasons, usually no. But if it’s because you need a break or cannot come with work, then yes.

Will no pay leave affect subsequent promotions and CEP
 

What about for reasons such as childcare or elderly parents?

Yes it will affect. If your NPL is more than 1 month.... Even for valid reasons.

Yes it will affect. Even for a KP who takes NPL for childcare. Her promotion was delayed..

Just curious if anyone applied through open posting for non teaching positions after no pay leave?