SINGAPORE – Everyone wants more flexibility at work, but for teachers, it may not be as simple, given their daily school schedules.

Still, the Ministry of Education (MOE) is mulling over such requests, especially from younger teachers, and rethinking flexi-work possibilities.

Education Minister Chan Chun Sing said a review, which started at the end of 2023, is studying how to adjust the schedules and workloads of teachers to address “new trends” of wanting more flexible arrangements.

“So, for example, more of the younger generation, and even not-so-young people, want a more flexible lifestyle,” he said. 

Another trend MOE has observed is the need for teachers to have more diverse experiences and porosity in their career paths, he said in an interview with The Straits Times on April 24, the last day of the recent International Summit on the Teaching Profession.

More details on the ministry’s plans will come later in 2024. 

Mr Chan said the ministry is reviewing the teaching workforce to meet these evolving needs.

For instance, schools could consider having a few “part-time flexi” roles, he said. “The load can vary because of your different seasons in life... I think we can find ways to accommodate.” 

Some of this will take some reimagining by schools, said Mr Chan.

“Let’s say we don’t have enough music teachers. How do you bring in resources from the industry to supplement capacity needs?

“We are thinking through all this... about how to have a more versatile workforce, but at the same time never losing the ethos of the teaching profession,” he said. 

Increasingly, people also want to try different things within their careers, said Mr Chan.

“This is also why we roster people around within the service, within the Government and beyond – to allow them to recharge, bring back something different and new connections.

“It is a challenge and also an opportunity for us to rethink how we can have a more porous career path,” he said, adding that having more mid-career individuals joining the teaching profession with different life experiences can also enrich the fraternity. 

About 500 teachers have been matched to roles in sectors such as manufacturing, environment, and trade and connectivity under the Teacher Work Attachment Plus programme since January 2022. About 400 of them have completed their attachments.

“We have to always think one or two steps ahead and ask ourselves how to seize some of these opportunities and manage some demands,” said Mr Chan. “It will take effort on the part of the ground leadership. If you manage it well, you have a richer, more diverse environment.”

“The end goal is that the teaching profession is respected and fulfilling,” he added.

Teacher quality is key

Recruiting people with the right traits for the teaching profession is crucial, said Mr Chan. Overall, teaching draws from the top one-third of each university cohort.

Teacher resignations have remained low, he said. The yearly attrition rate has stayed stable at 2 per cent to 3 per cent, and in fact dipped during the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Latest figures show that there are more than 32,000 teachers. 

Mr Chan said: “We are fortunate because I think the teaching profession is still highly regarded in society, and that’s something we learnt from all the other countries.

“Once they lose that, they can’t get enough teachers, then it’s a downward spiral... We will work very hard to make sure that this doesn’t happen to us.” 

Teachers today need to shift from didactic ways of teaching to “facilitate discovery through discussion”, he said.

“Another different skill set is helping teachers not just be pedagogically strong but also to work with our children and their families on developing their socio-emotional regulation.”

Knowing how to mobilise different parts of the community, for example, in areas like education and career guidance, is important too, instead of depending only on their own strengths as teachers, said Mr Chan.

Technology can also be used to supplement work, he said.

“We are not saying that every teacher must do all of this. We’re saying that in every school team, we must have people with different competencies so that we can perform as a team to bring out the best in our children, rather than add to the workload of everybody.” 

One way to cut down on workload is not to “overprotect and provide”, said Mr Chan, adding that some students, like the older ones, could take charge of some school activities, for example. 

And while students are learning more, he said, there is no need to test them on everything. Steps like doing away with mid-year examinations and making Project Work a pass/fail subject are meant to create capacity for students to not chase the last mark and to enjoy learning, he said. 

Acknowledging the demands teachers face, Mr Chan said that “this is the most challenging period” for teachers because they have to not only deliver in the current context but also retool for the future.

“But if we don’t do the transition, the future is even more challenging.” 

The ministry will support teachers and give them time, he added. 

“We don’t have to do everything at the same time... We just need to do what is required for different groups of students at different times, and progressively we’ll build up that library of options.”