Currently, most teachers work a 12-hour daily weekday schedule.

The workload is extraordinarily heavy and multidimensional, involving classroom teaching, marking students' written work, supervising co-curricular activities, attending committee meetings and courses, conducting supplementary and remedial lessons, participating in intra- and inter-school professional sharing sessions, counselling problem learners, and attending to parents' queries and complaints, just to list a few.

Ms Lee Wei Yin's comments about after-work hours as an integral part of service are insensitive to the physical, mental, emotional, social and psychological needs of our teachers ("Working after school hours part of 'service'"; Oct 8).

Teachers indeed are already working after school hours: Marking written assignments, preparing the next day's lessons, and attending to students' and parents' e-mail queries in the evening.

Generally, teachers are reluctant to work beyond the daily 12-hour stretch for the simple reason that they need to recover sufficiently from the day's exertions.

A much-needed rest and time well spent with loved ones or friends in the evening would see them hugely refreshed to competently take on their duties and responsibilities the next day.

Most parents would want teachers who are well rested, physically fit, mentally and emotionally buoyant and socially vibrant to mentor their children.

The positive and practical way to mandate teachers' job satisfaction, personal happiness and good health is to drastically cut down their overflowing plate of daily duties, but surely not by suggesting they do more after school hours as part of "service".

Ho Kong Loon