MORE than 7,000 teachers and support staff will be hired next year despite the slowing economy.
The Ministry of Education (MOE), which will aim to add 7,500 employees to its payroll next year, also plans to give the economy a fillip by speeding up its scheme to equip every school with an indoor sports hall by 2014 and to look into building centralised facilities for arts, music and sporting activities.

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Dr Ng is right. This economic downturn presents a unique opportunity to recruit teachers. Desperate for a job, retrenched workers and unemployed grads will easily fall for the bait set by MOE. Besides, the unemployed also need the job for survival You scratch my back, and I scratch yours. It's fair.

Helena

Do you have any idea what is meant by relevant work experience for recruitment of teachers?

dingdang8

I just know that MOE decides on what constitutes relevant work experience, but from the understanding I got from some former colleagues in the teaching profession, your work experience may be considered relevant if:

1) You have taught in a school before.

2) You have done work related to the subject(s) MOE wants you to teach. For example, if you have been a journalist, your experience may be considered relevant if they want you to teach English. If you have been working as a chemist/pharmacist/chemical engineer, MOE might consider your experience relevant for teaching chemistry.

recently i'd heard the story of kent ridge secondary school firing a teaching assistant because they wanted to replace her someone who would command more fear from the students, like maybe an ex-policeman. yet, a teaching assistant's job scope does not include policing the 'penalty box' that the school uses to temporarily detain rowdy students. and from what i heard, she was proficient and adequate within her job scope. i wonder if moe and kent ridge have different agendas? maybe kent ridge is actually trying to become some sort of kids' day detention camp rather than a school...

lazylizard

Thanks for your insight. It is very vague on the MOE career website. Do your friends know who did they get to interview the candidates? I know one of them is from HR but not sure with the other two.

Read in the reports that we are getting some young principals. Do they skip a few levels or these batch of leaders are ready that good?

Eventually, I hope these mid-career entrants into the teaching profession do not feel shocked that they have to serve a role which comprises more than just a job scope of a teacher. Furthermore, these mid-career entrants, who may be so used to the private sector life, may have to get themselves adjusted to the requirement and culture of the Civil Service...

Nevertheless, teaching is a calling and a sacrifice, for the betterment of our future generation!

My salute to all teachers and a Happy New (Academic) Year 2009! :D

all these people who come from other careers thinking of passing on knowledge to the next generation or doing something more meaningful than counting the money in their bank accounts..

meeting all the hods and vps who are full of initiatives and kpis and will not let the teachers actually teach..

I know someone who switch from the private sector to teaching sometime ago. She took a pay cut at first. Now, she is trying to get a job in the private sector but no one wants to hire her as she have left off the private sector for too long. the only solution is to be a private tutor.

The economy is just the same speed since beginning, and the hiring and firing of employees is the same speed since the beginning. Regardless of whether who hire/fire who the "musical chair' game of hiring & firing is just a normal process of world economies.

MOE, or any ministry for that matter, still need manpower no matter whether the economy is slowing down or not.

Please do our people a favour, MOE MUST ensure that the people hired are not hired for hiring sake, but really contribute and create real value into the lives of the students during their service in schools, or else we are spending silly money on 'silly' people .

Beside the healthcare personnels, the mind-care personnels are the most important employees of our nation building agendas. Good passionated teachers inspire good and loyal citizens for our better future. MAJULAH SINGAPURA!