Heng Swee Keat: Experience of older teachers valued

IN HIS first comments to the media on the pay cut of older teachers, Education Minister Heng Swee Keat said he values the experience that older teachers bring to the classroom and that his ministry will 'certainly do more to make sure that we reach out to everyone who is affected'.

He noted that his ministry was the first to offer re-employment of all retired teachers who had a satisfactory performance, compared to only giving contracts to selected retiring teachers in the past.

Recently, the Singapore Teachers Union expressed unhappiness that rehired teachers will have their salaries cut by up to 30 per cent. On Monday, the Education Ministry clarified that most teachers will get pay cuts of up to 18 per cent and only those who give up supervisory duties will end up with cuts of up to 30 per cent.

Mr Heng made his comments at a Tampines GRC National Day observance ceremony on Tuesday morning, which he attended as guest-of-honour.

Even as he described National Day as a 'moving experience', Mr Heng said the economic outlook is 'uncertain' and that it was important for Singaporeans to have the resilience and a 'sense of togetherness' to weather ups and downs.