Career Information
Career Tracks
Teachers are the key to everything that is being done in Education. Because different teachers have different aspirations, the Ministry of Education has introduced the “Education Service Professional Development And Career Plan” (Edu-Pac) for teachers to develop their potential to the fullest.
Edu-Pac comprises a new career structure and a new recognition structure. The 3 career tracks under the Edu-Pac career structure aim to nurture and motivate all teachers to achieve superior performance.
If you love interacting with students and feel that your calling is in teaching, the Teaching Track allows you to advance to a new pinnacle level of Master Teacher. The Leadership Track gives you the opportunity to take on leadership positions in schools and the Ministry’s headquarters. If you are inclined towards more specialised areas where deep knowledge and skills are essential for breaking new ground in educational developments, the Senior Specialist Track is available for you.
With Edu-Pac, teaching is now even more challenging, enriching and satisfying. Like any other profession, career advancement is only limited by your own performance and potential.
Professional Development
In the environment of Thinking Schools, Learning Nation, opportunities abound for teachers to develop themselves professionally.
There are many in-service courses, e.g. Diplomas, Advanced Diplomas and Advanced Postgraduate Diplomas that continually challenge and develop teachers to upgrade their professional knowledge. We also have the Teachers’ Network which organizes regular conferences, seminars and forums.
As a trained teacher, there will be a wide range of training and upgrading opportunities, including:
In-service Training Courses
When you have gained sufficient experience in teaching, a wide range of in-service courses awaits you. You can attend these courses to broaden your knowledge base and learn / share ways of making your teaching and learning more effective. There are also milestone courses to equip officers for leadership roles. Officers earmarked to be Heads of Department are sent for the Diploma in Departmental Management (DDM) programme at NIE to prepare them for their managerial roles. Officers who have the potential to be school leaders attend the Leaders in Education programme at NIE.
Study Leave
Non-graduate teachers who wish to pursue a degree programme can apply for no-pay study leave. In addition, candidates can apply for interest-free study loans and MOE course sponsorships. Postgraduate studies, relevant to the Education Service, are available to officers with a first degree, once you have gained some teaching experience and have demonstrated consistently good performance. These studies are pursued through coursework or research at the Masters Level. These may be undertaken on a full-time or part-time basis, either on scholarship or study-leave. The aim is to provide good teachers with postgraduate training in specialised areas relevant to the service.
Scholarships and Study Loans
MOE offers Masters and PhD scholarships to outstanding officers. Some of the areas of sponsorship include:
- Educational Administration
- Curriculum Development
- Educational Guidance and Counselling
- Educational Psychology
- Testing and Measurement
- Instructional Design
Part-time NIE Degree Programme for Primary School Teaching
Serving teachers can look forward to opportunities for professional development. The part-time NIE Bachelor of Arts (Education) / Bachelor of Science (Education) degree programme will be introduced from July 2003. This allows serving non-graduate teachers to pursue a degree.
Brief Structure of Programme
The programme will require a minimum of 3.5 years to complete and candidates will be allowed a maximum of 6 years to complete the programme. Candidates will also be required to do their semester (5 months) on a full-time basis at NIE. For more information on the structure of the programme, please refer to the BA/BSc (Education) Handbook that is available in the NIE website.
Successful applicants may apply for Professional Development Leave (if eligible), No-Pay Study.