MOE on track to hire over 1,000 teachers in 2025; half of applicants are mid-career switchers

SINGAPORE – Singapore is on track to recruit more than 1,000 new educators in 2025, with half of the applicants coming from mid-career backgrounds.

The Ministry of Education (MOE) said there has been an increase in teacher applications over the last three years. However, it did not give details on how many teachers have been hired.

Education Minister Desmond Lee said in July that Singapore will

ramp up teacher hiring over the next few years,

from about 700 teachers recruited a year previously to more than 1,000 annually.

There were 29,605 teachers in 2024, compared with 30,396 in 2023, according to the latest publicly available figures.

In response to queries from The Straits Times, MOE said it has a “rigorous” recruitment process to identify suitable candidates for the teaching profession.

Shortlisted applicants for the Postgraduate Diploma in Education (PGDE) teacher training programme usually receive interview invitations within three to four weeks after applications close.

All untrained teaching applicants are required to conduct a lesson presentation as part of the structured interview process.

While half of the candidates who clear the interview stage receive offers within two to five months of their interview date, MOE said longer processing time may be necessary for those required to complete additional proficiency tests.

In November, Workers’ Party MP Kenneth Tiong raised questions in Parliament about teacher recruitment timelines and processes. He also asked whether prolonged timelines for PGDE applications had led to qualified candidates looking for other jobs.

In response, MOE acknowledged that longer wait times after the interview may be a concern for applicants, and said it would stay in contact with candidates throughout the process.

It added that of the PGDE applicants who applied in early 2025 and attended interviews, half received an offer within two to five months of the interview date.

About 7 per cent of applicants who cleared the interview withdrew their applications before they received an offer.

Successful untrained applicants will undergo a school stint to assess their suitability for teaching before enrolling in the National Institute of Education’s (NIE) PGDE preparatory programme.

They will be posted to schools after completing their training.

Two mid-career applicants, who spoke to ST on the condition of anonymity, said they have yet to hear from MOE on whether their applications are successful, despite completing interviews and medical assessments in the first half of 2025.

They said they were told that their start dates would be pushed back by about six months from December 2025 to July 2026, though there is no confirmation that they will be employed as teachers.

They added that the application process so far has been frustrating due to the lack of communication, which can stretch to more than four months without updates. This can be a challenge, especially for mid-career candidates balancing current jobs while preparing for a career switch.

The applicants said that having to plan for resignation from their full-time jobs without the assurance of a confirmed offer has made the prolonged process more stressful.

Taking the leap to teach

Although mid-career individuals enter the profession at an older age compared with fresh graduates, they add value to the fraternity differently, said Dr Jason Tan, an associate professor of policy, curriculum and leadership at NIE.

One way is through schools’ applied learning programmes, which, he said, aim to connect students’ knowledge and skills with real-world situations.

With schools focusing on areas such as STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), languages, humanities, business and digital media, Dr Tan said that “some of these individuals may actually be able to draw directly on their previous working experiences to offer these sorts of learning programmes”.

They may also have a better understanding of parental concerns due to their age and potential parenting experience, he added.

“If they are parents themselves, they have first-hand experience of what it’s like to interact with school-age children.

“They may be able to better empathise with students’ parents, and this could help with parent-teacher communication,” he said.