The high attrition rate of MOE school teachers continues to be a problem for Singapore.
Over two-thirds of teachers who quit have said that they left because of unduly heavy administrative workload that does nothing to improve the quality of teaching. Despite this being a long-standing complaint, MOE has thus far failed to adequately address the issue.
Not only are teachers burdened with high administrative workloads, they are also roped in to help out in co-curricular activities, further distracting them from lesson preparation or attending to their students’ academic needs.
It is especially painful when so many experienced teachers leave, because their expertise and knowledge gained over time are no longer available for students and new teachers to tap on.
There must be a renewed, concerted effort to drastically lighten the administrative burden teachers bear, and also reduce their involvement in co-curricular activities.
Instead, resources should be dedicated toward continually training them to be better educators and building up a solid core of knowledge so that teachers can impart knowledge and skills more effectively, as well as play a role in helping to design and plan future academic curricula.