Career as Teacher

Originally Posted by Unregistered

My excolleague's husband was a secondary school teacher, in a rather poor performing school. It seemed that he devoted much more of his effort into private tuition. I think school teachers should be banned from conducting private tuition due to obvious conflict of interest. Just like ppl working in bank have very stringent control on trading privately.

Does the principal know about it? Was anything done or was he given a warning?

Also do scholars (Not PSC but maybe teaching scholars) have better opportunities to progress up the career ladder etc..

Heard stories where scholars come in with a higher CEP and so are assigned with more important projects etc..

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Does the principal know about it? Was anything done or was he given a warning?

Also do scholars (Not PSC but maybe teaching scholars) have better opportunities to progress up the career ladder etc..

Heard stories where scholars come in with a higher CEP and so are assigned with more important projects etc..

Need to truly have passion and belief in what u are doing, else won't last more than 5 yrs. this thing on climbing the ladder, any teacher can climb to become a HOD if you want. The thing is, most not interested in the additional workload associated with the leadership position.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Need to truly have passion and belief in what u are doing, else won't last more than 5 yrs. this thing on climbing the ladder, any teacher can climb to become a HOD if you want. The thing is, most not interested in the additional workload associated with the leadership position.

a normal teacher can earn more than a HOD by giving private tuition. the demand for 'NIE trained teachers' or 'ex-teacher from a top school' will always be high. you'll also be much happier and free from the school politics. most would not be gundoo enough to ask the principal for permission. besides, the school wouldnt have any idea, as tuition payment can be done in cash terms.

oppz i've revealed too much

Originally Posted by Unregistered

a normal teacher can earn more than a HOD by giving private tuition. the demand for 'NIE trained teachers' or 'ex-teacher from a top school' will always be high. you'll also be much happier and free from the school politics. most would not be gundoo enough to ask the principal for permission. besides, the school wouldnt have any idea, as tuition payment can be done in cash terms.

oppz i've revealed too much

But teachers always complain that they are too busy with school work, where got time to give tuition?

And I heard that (Not sure if it is true), those of higher ranks (I.e. HOD and above) tend to have better PB, and their annual income will be significantly higher than a normal teacher. Not to mention CPF and so on.

Plus tuition income will decrease during holidays.

[JustAnotherPrimaryTeacher]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Does the principal know about it? Was anything done or was he given a warning?

Also do scholars (Not PSC but maybe teaching scholars) have better opportunities to progress up the career ladder etc..

Heard stories where scholars come in with a higher CEP and so are assigned with more important projects etc..

I would say that as long as you have the conviction to want to effect changes and are able to show it through your pedagogies and classroom interactions, you will definitely be given the opportunity.

While the rest are right in saying that most teachers reject the position (or even look towards outside tuition to match the pay differences). I should remind you that teaching is really not for the money. You won't be able to sustain for long (or perhaps look towards tuition like what others mentioned), and the change you can make would be limited to the classroom you are in. However, the more responsibilities you have, the greater power you have to effect change. So it really depends on your priorities I guess. Do you see this as a job? or as part of your life?

Originally Posted by JustAnotherPrimaryTeacher

I would say that as long as you have the conviction to want to effect changes and are able to show it through your pedagogies and classroom interactions, you will definitely be given the opportunity.

While the rest are right in saying that most teachers reject the position (or even look towards outside tuition to match the pay differences). I should remind you that teaching is really not for the money. You won't be able to sustain for long (or perhaps look towards tuition like what others mentioned), and the change you can make would be limited to the classroom you are in. However, the more responsibilities you have, the greater power you have to effect change. So it really depends on your priorities I guess. Do you see this as a job? or as part of your life?

in an ideal world where everything is perfect, i would agree with you. unfortunately the reality is otherwise. ever since a certain minister introduced the ranking and appraisal in the system, everybody is unwittingly pulled into a rat race. there are KPIs and performance bonus to protect. being 'student-centered' is reduced to a catch phrase. very often you see HODs and SHs engage in backbiting, politicking and wayang to propel themselves further.

and yes, Teaching Award recipients and scholarship holders have an accelerated track, similar to other ministries and statboards. they might not necessarily possess good classroom management or sound teaching pedagogy, but will still rise up to occupy those big seats. after which, they'll assign the best classes to themselves, and allocate difficult or academically less inclined classes to their underlings. that is why usually, the best or most adored teachers arent the SHs or HODs.

of course, there will be an occasional outlier who truly have the students' best interest at heart, but he/she will find himself/herself moving against a big tide.

not in for the money? the truth is teaching pays well. it wont make u rich, but it definitely will accord you a comfortable life. that is why there are many mid career candidates streaming in from various sectors. they come in with certain industry experience and background, plus lots of politicking skills.

i'm not trying to dissuade anybody from entering the teaching fraternity. by painting a real picture, i hope i can manage your expectations so that you are aware what lies ahead before you take the plunge. the attrition rate for new teachers is rather high because there's a mismatch between expectations and reality.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

in an ideal world where everything is perfect, i would agree with you. unfortunately the reality is otherwise. ever since a certain minister introduced the ranking and appraisal in the system, everybody is unwittingly pulled into a rat race. there are KPIs and performance bonus to protect. being 'student-centered' is reduced to a catch phrase. very often you see HODs and SHs engage in backbiting, politicking and wayang to propel themselves further.

and yes, Teaching Award recipients and scholarship holders have an accelerated track, similar to other ministries and statboards. they might not necessarily possess good classroom management or sound teaching pedagogy, but will still rise up to occupy those big seats. after which, they'll assign the best classes to themselves, and allocate difficult or academically less inclined classes to their underlings. that is why usually, the best or most adored teachers arent the SHs or HODs.

of course, there will be an occasional outlier who truly have the students' best interest at heart, but he/she will find himself/herself moving against a big tide.

not in for the money? the truth is teaching pays well. it wont make u rich, but it definitely will accord you a comfortable life. that is why there are many mid career candidates streaming in from various sectors. they come in with certain industry experience and background, plus lots of politicking skills.

i'm not trying to dissuade anybody from entering the teaching fraternity. by painting a real picture, i hope i can manage your expectations so that you are aware what lies ahead before you take the plunge. the attrition rate for new teachers is rather high because there's a mismatch between expectations and reality.

The nature of education has changed.

All schools are good schools, but some schools are better than others, because of the profile of the students they attract.

Once you treat your students as 'customers', then you have to please the students, and discipline takes on a soft approach. Students do as they please because there are no logical consequences for the smaller offenses that they commit.

Most schools are not concerned about academic results because intelligence is distributed on a bell curve and concentrated in certain schools e.g. IP and IB; The schools rather have KPIs involving holistic education, meaning less emphasis on academics and more on non-academics .e.g. aesthetics and character, which are hard to quantify.

Thus, if you have good grades, had good experience in your school days and wants to teach, better think twice about joining teaching; what schools need and want nowadays are event planners. Students can always go for tuition, and it is an open secret.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

The nature of education has changed.

All schools are good schools, but some schools are better than others, because of the profile of the students they attract.

Once you treat your students as 'customers', then you have to please the students, and discipline takes on a soft approach. Students do as they please because there are no logical consequences for the smaller offenses that they commit.

Most schools are not concerned about academic results because intelligence is distributed on a bell curve and concentrated in certain schools e.g. IP and IB; The schools rather have KPIs involving holistic education, meaning less emphasis on academics and more on non-academics .e.g. aesthetics and character, which are hard to quantify.

Thus, if you have good grades, had good experience in your school days and wants to teach, better think twice about joining teaching; what schools need and want nowadays are event planners. Students can always go for tuition, and it is an open secret.

Totally agree. If you are someone who is passionate about a certain subject and sincerely wants to help students excel in their academics, then perhaps teaching is not the place to be.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Totally agree. If you are someone who is passionate about a certain subject and sincerely wants to help students excel in their academics, then perhaps teaching is not the place to be.

actually you can still consider teaching, but probably in a tuition centre

let's just get back to what this forum is doing here at salary.sg shall we?
I'm a dip ed BT of 1 semester btw.

GEO 1 (Untrained): ? (Untrained non-graduate)
GEO 1 (Trained): 1600 - 2730 (Trained non-graduate)
GEO 2 (Untrained): ? 2000 - 4340 (Untrained graduate)
GEO 2 (Trained): 2538 - 4500 (Trained graduate)
GEO 3: 3515 -5616
GEO4: 4545-7271
GEO5: 4903-7845 (max salary grade for standard teacher)
SEO1: 5651-9064 (min. LH/SH/ST)
SEO2: ? 7236-9288 (+9%?) (min. HOD/LT)
SEO3: ? 8748-11232 (+9%?) (min. VP/MT)