News

Everything About the Pay Hike of About 35K Teachers in S’pore

2022-08-16 , 8:15 pm

Although many who go into teaching don’t do it for the money, this overworked profession will certainly appreciate a pay hike.

About 35,000 teachers will receive a pay hike of five to 10% from 1 October 2022, as part of the Ministry of Education’s efforts to attract new blood and retain old ones.

Ensuring That Wages Remain Competitive

MOE announced this in a statement on 16 August, adding that the pay increase will also apply to about 1,600 allied educators and 800 pre-school teachers in MOE kindergartens.

Since salaries for teachers and allied educators were last reviewed in 2015, this pay raise helps to ensure that teaching remains competitive salary-wise. It will also help MOE to attract people to join the teaching force, and convince current teachers to remain.

And for those of you who are curious about how much your teachers earn: according to MOE’s website, current starting salaries for teachers range from $2,810 to $3,650.

Create New Grade That Allows Teachers To Earn More

In addition to the general pay raise, MOE will also be creating a new General Education Officer (GEO) 5A grade from 2023.

In the education system, classroom teachers will hold positions up to the GEO 5 grade, while those who take up key appointments like senior teachers or subject heads will hold Senior Education Officer (SEO) grades.

If a classroom teacher does not want to hold higher positions, they’ll be stuck at the GEO 5 grade, and stay at the same salary ceiling. MOE is looking to rectify this by adding a GEO 5A grade, which will be between GEO 5 and SEO 1.

This means that teachers who perform well and have been in the service for a long time will still be properly recognised and paid, even if they choose to remain as classroom teachers.

Enhance Retention Plan by Increasing Payouts

MOE won’t just increase the salaries of teachers, but will also be increasing the amount of payouts to those who remain in the teaching force.

The Connect Plan, or 30-year retention plan for teachers, started in 2002 and gives payouts to teachers who remain in the service. The Ministry sets aside $3,200 to $8,320 each year for teachers, depending on how long they’ve been teaching. They will then pay them a proportion of the accumulated money every three to five years.

The Ministry will be raising the annual deposit quantum, AKA the amount they set aside for teachers yearly, as well as the payout ratio by around 20%.

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Positive Response

Many teachers interviewed by The Straits Times have expressed positive sentiments towards this news. In particular, they mentioned that the creation of GEO 5A would help to value the contributions of teachers more by acknowledging that not everyone wants to take up leadership positions, as some teachers just want to teach for the rest of their career.

The enhancement of the retention plan would also help to convince teachers to stay on for their payouts, according to interviewees.

However, the general secretary of the Singapore Teachers’ Union, Mr Mike Thiruman, mentioned that such moves are still insufficient. More specifically, he pointed out that the “real deal” is how the teachers are treated at the school level, like the amount of workload and pressure, and the existence (or lack thereof) of work-life balance.