A sign of times?

From today's ST forum: Is there a shortage of school teachers?

My son, who is a primary 3 pupil, i sgoing through a tough time, with his teachers changing every single term, so much so that it is like a revolving door.

He had a Chinese teacher who taught for two terms and is now going for training at the National Institute of Education (NIE), so he will have a new NIE-trained teacher for Term 3.

He head a new English teacherin Term 2, and now we are expecting a "new" teacher for Term 3.

Why is there such a high turnover?

I raised my concern over the lack of continuity with the school, anad the explaination given was that there is a shortage of teachers.

I strongly support the theory that higher pay will atract better-qualified people. May I ask what the Ministry of Education(MOE) is doing about attracting top people for the very important job of cultivating our future generations?

I understand taht the economy is doing very well and people are less inclined to join the teaching profession. What is MOE doing to retain teachers and not lose the potentially good ones to the bette-paying private sectorr?

My two chilren have very good teachers. If only we could keep them...

Jenny Sim Siew Hwa (Mdm)


Just the other day, I received a call from X Secondary School, asking if I can relief them for term 3. I've only placed Geography as my teaching subject, and I assume they are lacking in Geography teachers. No one was(and will not) be posted in this year to replace my collegue who got posted out either.

What does this imply?

Personally don't think there is a shortage of teachers in general, but rather, a shortage of teachers for CERTAIN subjects, especially the languages and humanities. And I think this problem will persist for a long time to come, whether the economy is good or not.

Why?

Firslty, its harder for someone to qualify to be a Humanities teacher. If you were to check the degree requirements MOE has set for teaching subjects, to teach English Language at a secondary school level or above, you need an Arts Degree. For humanities, an Arts Degree is not enough. You need to major in the discipline to teach that subject. However, most of the other degrees allow you to teach Mathematics and Sciences at a secondary school level. In another words, there is a higher chance that a mid-career switcher, or a person who've decided to join the force right after university, to qualify as a maths and/or science teacher.

Next, at least according to what I think, most Singaporeans think that an Arts Degree is useless, and would prefer a Science or applied science degree, thinking that that will gurantee them a job. I wouldn't dispute whether this is true or not, but judging from such mentality, we would expect a higher proportion of graduates having non-Arts Degree. Of course, that means there is even lesser people who qualify to be Humanities or Language teacher.

It might be argued that the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences is one of the larger faculties in NUS. However, how many of them are interested in teaching? One of the most popular majors is actually economics - and apperently, base on the interactions of my peers who majored in economics, most choose it as it is "easier to profit from it" or "to find a job with it", especially in the finances and banking sector. Geography is a rather popular major as well, but base on the number of geography majors I've encountered, less than 50% have intentions to be teacher or are on the way to be a teacher. The other greater than 50% prefer to work in the private sector, especially tourism related activities. In fact, Geographical Information System (GIS) is apprently rather popular - similarly, due to its widespread application in the private sector, hence guranteeing a job, rather than out of passion. That being said, imagine the situation for our literature companions.

In another words, even if the economy were to get worse, driving more people to go into teaching as its the only few jobs available, I wouldn't expect the shortage of humanities and language teacher to improve. Perhaps just a little, but not much. I don't blame MOE for setting such strict requirements. After all, I would want my child to be taught by someone who has sufficient curriculum depth. Also, after I've entered NUS, I've realised that there are so much more I've learn in my modules that I could bring into the classroom to add interest, depth and breadth to the lesson. Yes, I agree that such requirements are neccessary, even if there is a shortage of humanities teachers. Then again, having a arts degree, majoring in a humanities subject wouldn't gurantee a good teacher.

I think the parent brought up 2 very good questions: Why the high turnover, and why the shortage of supply? I've tackled the shortage of supply, but what about the high turnover? Is it a sign of the situation of the service? Consequently, is the lack of interest in teaching a sign of the situation as well?

I guess enough teacher-bloggers have brought up situations in schools. But is that the reason?

I don't know.

But i'm more interested in the following. If my memory serves me well, the birth rate has been decreasing since 1987. Shouldn't we expect less students? True, foreign students may be contributing to the numbers, but I don't think it is big enough to compensate for the fall in birth rate. So techincally, speaking, the turnover rate is higher than the fall in birth rate?

Well, it's just my wild, limited scope of observation and thoughts. Don't take it seriously.