Flexi-work for Singapore teachers: Considering their needs at different seasons of life

SINGAPORE - As her ageing father’s health worsened, Woodgrove Primary School teacher Lai Wai Ling asked her school leaders if she could take on less work so that she could spend more time with him.

In 2024, she was excused from activities that take place after school in the afternoon, such as co-curricular activities (CCAs) and enrichment classes.

She still has form teacher duties, but her teaching load has dropped, from two English language classes to one.

In response to queries, the Ministry of Education (MOE) said that on average, about 3.7 per cent of teachers in schools were on such part-time work arrangements between 2020 and 2024.

The Straits Times had asked for the numbers of teachers in part-time work and other flexi-adjunct schemes in the past five years.

Flexi-adjunct teachers supplement the teaching force to help schools meet short-term manpower needs. They are typically assigned fewer teaching hours and may not have the same administrative or CCA responsibilities as full-time teachers.

Education Minister Chan Chun Sing had previously said in 2024 that the ministry was

studying how to adjust the schedules and workloads of teachers who want more flexible arrangements.

There were 30,396 teachers across primary, secondary and pre-university levels, according to the latest education statistics.

MOE said it provides a range of options for teachers who require flexible work arrangements.

These include reporting to school later, working from home on days when they have no in-person classes or other duties requiring their physical presence in school, attending virtual meetings, and working part-time.

The ministry added that flexi-adjunct and contract-adjunct teachers form a “small proportion” of the teaching force.

MOE said flexi-adjunct teachers are paid an hourly rate, according to tiers, which take into account factors including their qualities and years of teaching experience.

ST understands that some revisions were made to the job scope of flexi-adjunct teachers in recent years, including the addition of duties such as committee work or form teacher duties, or overseeing CCAs, which typically were not part of their responsibilities in the past.

MOE did not address queries on specific changes, but said that it “periodically reviews the remuneration of all its schemes of service to ensure that it can continue to attract and retain good educators”.

Said Miss Lai, 56: “The flexi-work arrangement has allowed me to spend time with (my father), and at the same time, continue with the teaching job that I really love and enjoy... Without this arrangement, it would be very challenging to care for my father and balance my duties as a teacher.”

Woodgrove Primary principal Adeline Ng, 45, said middle managers in charge of school timetabling are essential in balancing teachers’ needs with timetable constraints.

The school combines programmes such as Racial Harmony Day celebrations and the annual Arts Fiesta into one event, to reduce teachers’ workload.

The school also gets parents to volunteer as chaperones and make-up artists for school events, freeing teachers from these duties.

“This allows more flexibility for us as a school, and helps ensure that the flexi-workload arrangements provided for our colleagues do not bring about an increased workload for other full-time colleagues,” said Mrs Ng.

Mrs Chay Gek Noi, 58, vice-principal of Teck Whye Primary School, said about five teachers are on flexible work arrangements each year. “Some teachers need it for one semester, some for a whole year. So the number is actually not fixed. It has to meet the needs of the teachers,” she said.

One of them is Ms Cynthia Chang, who has been an educator for over 20 years.

In 2023, she undertook a reduced workload in the first semester after a back injury, before switching back to a full load, teaching mathematics and science, in the second semester when she got better.

When her aged mother needed more care and attention in 2024, she cut back on work again in 2025 so as to be able to spend more time with her.

Ms Chang, who declined to give her age, said she is grateful that the school accommodated her requests for flexible workloads when she was going through different challenges.

“I think it shows that we are being appreciated by the school, as they consider our needs at different seasons of our life.”

At Boon Lay Secondary School, Malay language teacher Norfarhana Sabtu, 34, said she can drop her sons, aged four and eight, off at childcare and school before reporting to work.

Since 2023, all teachers at the school have been allowed to leave in between lessons to attend to important or urgent matters, giving them more flexibility. They can return to work thereafter or continue to work off-site, as long as in-person lessons and meetings are not required.

In 2024, Boon Lay Secondary also shifted its start time to 8am, instead of 7.30am for most schools.

Such practices help parents of young children like her balance family responsibilities with work, Madam Norfarhana said.

“If I have to attend to any ad hoc urgent matters, and if I don’t have lessons, I have that flexibility of popping in and out of school without compromising my work,” she said.

The school’s principal, Mr Inderjit Singh, said it came up with these arrangements to care for teachers’ professional and personal needs, without compromising the quality of their work.

Having gone through the Covid-19 pandemic, the school realised that staff could leverage technology to do some of their work, such as conduct meetings online, he added.

The aim is also to let teachers experience a hybrid work culture, like in the private sector. Even so, the context in school is different, said Mr Singh, because teaching has to be done in person and that is still non-negotiable.

He said there is mutual trust between school leaders and teachers.

“Many teachers are still here till late in the day. But they know that when they need to, they have the flexibility to leave and continue work outside of school.”