mid-career teachers: more switch jobs to teaching

11/22/11 Overseas Singaporean Portal - Latest Home News

1/3overseassingaporean.sg/cms/index.php/…/more_switch_jobs_to_teaching/

Home / Singapore Features / Latest Home News / More switch jobs to teaching

Singapore Features

Latest Home News

By Leonard Lim, 21 Nov 2011

They are forming a growing proportion of the classroom

brigade, and staying longer than those who plumped for

teaching as a first career.

Mid-career recruits - defined as those with at least a

year’s working experience before they became educators

- now make up a quarter of the approximately 31,000

teachers.

The corresponding figures were 15 per cent and 22 per

cent in 2002 and 2007 respectively, according to data

from the Ministry of Education.

They also tend to stay in the job longer. About 90 per

cent remain after three years, compared to around 85

per cent for fresh graduate recruits.

Commenting on the trend, a ministry spokesman said

mid-career teachers, having worked in other jobs, are

usually more certain of their career choices. And some of

them also perform well and rise up fast, some principals

noted, because they are able to draw on their richer

work and life experiences when they teach.

Said Riverside Secondary School principal, Mrs Sng Siew

Hong, 49: ‘Being older, they have been exposed, and are

also aware of expectations like productivity when working

for an organisation.

‘They tend to rise up quite fast to leadership positions.’

When Mrs Sng, a ‘pure-bred’ teacher, assumed the top

post at the school in 2007, two out of 14 in her

leadership team - comprising heads of department,

subject heads and vice-principals - were mid-career

types.

Today, seven are mid-career teachers.

The top five sectors mid-career teachers come from are:

the civil service, tertiary and private educational

institutions, finance and insurance, information and

communications, and manufacturing.

Some are also high-flying bankers, military officers and

accountants.

Most take substantial pay cuts.

Madam Sandra Ho, 49, a former director in Seagate

Technology International, took an 80 per cent pay cut

when she joined Zhangde Primary School in 2005.

Trainee teacher Tan Mian Ou, who worked as a combat

OS Snapshots &

Hotshots

Features

Latest Home

News

Past Week's

News



Trainee teacher Tan Mian Ou, who worked as a combat

engineers officer in the army for 10 years, had his pay

slashed by half to $2,900 when he made the career

switch. ‘It was painful, but I went in with my eyes wide

open,’ said the 30-year-old.

With the ministry set to grow its teaching force to

33,000 by 2015, the number of mid-career teachers is

likely to increase.

A recent half-page advertisement put up by the

Education Ministry was targeted specifically at mid-career

types. It reads: ‘Every day, you wake up and ask

yourself if you’re making a difference at work. There’s

one way to be sure. Wake up and go to school instead.’

To help mid-career teachers catch up with their peers

who chose teaching as their first job, it was announced

in 2007 that they would enjoy faster promotions and

extra salary increments.

New mid-career recruits who were graduates and had at

least three years’ working experience could also start

one rung up in the teaching scale after they finished their

training. This meant a few hundred dollars more each

month in starting pay.

Many making it to senior positions

Also, up to 80 per cent of their non-teaching work

experience would be taken into account when computing

their starting pay, up from 50 per cent previously. Mid-

career teachers are also making it to the highest

echelons. Of the 22 newly-appointed principals that were

announced last month, two are mid-career educators.

Many mid-career teachers interviewed said they took the

leap because they believe they can make a difference in

students’ lives. The improved package did not figure as a

big factor, though it was a draw.

Mr David Chong, a former assistant director in the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said he wanted to be a bridge

between the theoretical world of education and the real

working world.

‘So far, interaction with students has been a great

experience. While tiring at times, it has been satisfying,’

said the 35-year-old economics lecturer at Hwa Chong

Institution.

Still, there are transition issues to face - top of which is

getting re-acquainted with the subject content. They

also have to adjust the way they speak and interact with

those around them. Mr Chong said: ‘There is a distinct

difference in working with adults, and with students.’

Many also have to adjust their lifestyles, because of the

drop in salary.

Those interviewed proclaim they have largely no regrets.

Bedok Green Primary’s Madam Norashinah Mohamed

Yusope, 38, who was previously working in a statutory

board, laments that her weekends are now spent

marking instead of relaxing since she took up teaching

13 years ago.



13 years ago.

She was, however, quick to add: ‘But I know I’ve made

the right choice.’

Source: The Straits Times © Singapore Press Holdings

Limited. Reprinted with permission.

mid-career teachers: more switch jobs to teaching

Documents