On the one hand, too much attention lavished on female students by male teachers always tend to allude to 'unhealthy' intentions. How about male teachers caring for male students? What used to be a safer notion about having sons has suddenly become a little wee bit not that 'safe' anymore.

If you ask any parent on the street, would he/she prefer a teacher who cares more for the students or those who simply do it as something that pays for their livelihood.

Ever since my daughter entered a popular Chinese primary school in Yishun three years ago, we did not have the luxury of pondering the above. She started with having relief teachers as form teachers or, when the situation seems to have improved, Chinese teachers became the norm while relief teachers took up the other core subjects.

The good thing about having relief teachers is you never have to worry about them spending too much time on your kids. They come in to cover for other relief teachers, complain about spending too much time during class to discipline the kids instead of teaching, go on medical leave because of being stressed out by the children and the best part is assign answer sheets to the students to mark themselves... just before the examinations. Routine worksheets are not returned because in the vicious cycle of submitting assignments requested by relief teacher A to a relief teacher B, it is inevitable for the assignments to take a walk.

To have a teacher who spends too much time or have a teacher who does his/her time within the primary tenements of basic teaching, count your blessings if it is a permanent teacher after all. At least now you know. It could be worse.

Ang Chee Leong