Forum Letter Replies
Retaining teachers who want to upgrade skills
Please refer to the letter “Brain drain of teachers: be more flexible, MOE” (ST Forum, 15 April 08). The writer’s daughter, Miss Tan benefited from MOE’s professional development leave scheme where she obtained her Masters degree. However, the school where Mr Tan’s daughter was teaching was unable to hold the position for Miss Tan to pursue her PhD studies given the needs of the students and the school at that point in time.
MOE agrees with Mr Louis Tan that we should do more to retain teachers who want to upgrade their professional qualifications abroad and encourage them to return to Singapore. We recognise that the requirement for schools to hold a vacant post for teachers who are away on study leave may inadvertently discourage schools from granting such leave. We have taken steps to correct this. Under the GROW 2.0 package which was announced in 28 Dec 2007, MOE will be setting aside an additional 140 teacher posts to support schools which need to release their teachers for postgraduate studies. MOE is exploring ways to do more.
We have also approached Miss Tan to let her know that we would be happy to to allow her to take no pay leave while she is pursuing her PhD studies. The school can draw on the additional teacher posts that MOE will be setting aside while she is away for her studies.
We thank Mr Tan for his feedback.
Director (Personnel)
“Brain Drain of Teachers: Be more flexible, MOE” (Louis Tan, ST Forum, 15/4, pH7)
I REFER to last Tuesday’s article, ‘MOE promotes over 7,500, including its director-general’, and note Education Minister Ng Eng Hen’s main priorities. I would like to comment on the education system and hope to improve it and reduce possible brain drain by giving my daughter’s experience in education.
My daughter, Miss Hazel Tan, resigned from the education service (Innova Junior College) in January after more than 10 years. She had applied for no-pay leave to pursue further studies. This was allowed but no replacement would be sent to fill her position as head of department (maths). However, if she resigned, there would be a replacement.
As she is devoted to education, she could not accept no-pay leave at the expense of her students who would be short of one maths teacher. Hence she resigned and went to Melbourne to pursue a PhD in education on a scholarship fully funded by Monash University.
I feel the education system here is not conducive to those who want to enhance their careers as teachers. Two suggestions:
Under the Professional Development Scheme, allow replacements for teachers, heads of department or even principals who pursue further studies under no-pay leave approved by the Ministry of Education (MOE).
When teachers go on approved no-pay leave, where appropriate, reserve their place in MOE and keep their length of service intact. This is to assure them they have a place in Singapore and can contribute to the education system on their return.
My daughter has said she may stay in Australia after she completes her studies. I feel it is a loss to the education system and, more widely, a brain drain. This is one area where the brain drain can be prevented if MOE adopts a policy to retain teachers and reduce migration.
In my daughter’s case, as her PhD will be fully paid for by her university, she is now inclined to stay in Australia as she has no obligation to MOE.