Career as Teacher

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Context: I am a BT in my first posting starting from 1 Jan 2023. My official confirmation to GEO2 was April 2022. Tia gong first posting only need 2 years in service. However the eligibility criterion to apply is to have completed 2 Years in the first posting as of 31 DEC of the year you are applying.

E.g I want to apply for OPE in July 2023, so I must have served 2 years in my current posting by 31 DEC 2023.

However the MOE HR unit tells me that Practicum period does not count towards the 2 years of service in the first posting. Even if I want to apply for new posting starting Sem 2 2024, I do not even meet the criterion to apply in the first place.

My questions are:
1) Anyone knows of any BT who successfully applied for OPE in their second year?
2) Does this mean that I am only eligible to apply for OPE in 2024?

Appreciate your insights, dear senpais

That is correct. Practicum is 3 months, and does not count towards the 2 years. Hence by Dec 2023 you would only have completed 1 year 9 months of service. Don't even need to bother applying. If you click on "apply" during OPE, the system will indicate that you are not eligible. So TLDR, yes you have to wait until 2024 to apply for posting in 2025.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

It's the norm for management grades to get a higher pay increase, but for this time specifically, we don't know yet.

I'm not a KP but I think the pay gap between management and non-management is too small. It's not enough to justify all the extra rubbish that KPs are expected to do on top of being model teachers.

Not advocating for a massive pay gap, but if the pay gap is narrowed instead of being widened slightly, it disincentivises outstanding teachers to aspire to climb the ladder and serve in higher capacities.

Dont worry we know most KPs are thrash teachers anw.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

No, it's a yearly payout. It replaces the Learning & Development Scheme which allows teachers to claim for any learning-related expenses. KPs get $700 if I'm not wrong.

Not true. I’m a GEO 4 SH and mine’s only $500 😭 More likely it’s tag to GEO grades instead.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I'm not a KP but I think the pay gap between management and non-management is too small. It's not enough to justify all the extra rubbish that KPs are expected to do on top of being model teachers.

Not advocating for a massive pay gap, but if the pay gap is narrowed instead of being widened slightly, it disincentivises outstanding teachers to aspire to climb the ladder and serve in higher capacities.

Thing is, there's very little space to climb, those up there are not moving or leaving, hence the geo5a subgrade. The ones leaving are the talented and stuck geo4 and 3s who are also thrown all sorts of rubbish and heavily arrowed. So these subgrades need the biggest increment to retain them.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Thing is, there's very little space to climb, those up there are not moving or leaving, hence the geo5a subgrade. The ones leaving are the talented and stuck geo4 and 3s who are also thrown all sorts of rubbish and heavily arrowed. So these subgrades need the biggest increment to retain them.

If you look at what happened to the adjustment for the MX scheme, so many people are in MX11 but their adjustment was the lowest at 5%. MX12 and below, MX11a and above got 8% and above.

Everyone on the ground has their opinions about how the adjustment should be done, but if those sitting on top decide otherwise, don't be surprised if some slacking GEO5 HOT gets hotter from a larger adjustment while the GEO3 and GEO4 SOTs get peanuts.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I'm not a KP but I think the pay gap between management and non-management is too small. It's not enough to justify all the extra rubbish that KPs are expected to do on top of being model teachers.

Not advocating for a massive pay gap, but if the pay gap is narrowed instead of being widened slightly, it disincentivises outstanding teachers to aspire to climb the ladder and serve in higher capacities.

aiseh...model teachers siol...lolol

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Not true. I’m a GEO 4 SH and mine’s only $500 😭 More likely it’s tag to GEO grades instead.

Like seriously r the pple here supposedly old timers who actually do not know? It’s years of service 700….but they smart put in payslip so it’s cpf deductible etc hence actual amount you get is 500. Those fewer years service get 500…minus cpf actual amt is less.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

If you look at what happened to the adjustment for the MX scheme, so many people are in MX11 but their adjustment was the lowest at 5%. MX12 and below, MX11a and above got 8% and above.

Everyone on the ground has their opinions about how the adjustment should be done, but if those sitting on top decide otherwise, don't be surprised if some slacking GEO5 HOT gets hotter from a larger adjustment while the GEO3 and GEO4 SOTs get peanuts.

Aren’t MX11 and GEO5 on par?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Like seriously r the pple here supposedly old timers who actually do not know? It’s years of service 700….but they smart put in payslip so it’s cpf deductible etc hence actual amount you get is 500. Those fewer years service get 500…minus cpf actual amt is less.

GEO1-4 grades: SEP Payment of $500 (before deduction)
GEO5 (inclusive) and SEO grades: SEP Payment of $700 (before deduction)

It has nothing to do with the years of service.