Enhancements to Career Schemes for School Staff to Achieve Better Student Outcomes

To better support teaching and learning in schools, MOE will implement the following enhancements to the Teaching Track, Allied Educator Scheme and ICT Support Scheme:

Enhancements to the MOE Teaching Track

Overview of Master Teachers (MTTs)

i. MOE is committed to developing a strong teaching fraternity that caters to the aspirations of Teacher Leaders who have strong passion for classroom teaching. The MOE Teaching Track was conceptualised in 2001 to provide professional development and advancement opportunities for teachers, keen to provide pedagogical leadership and mentorship to enhance the quality and capability of our teaching fraternity for improved student outcomes.

ii. Master Teachers (MTTs) are national Teacher Leaders, who foster a teacher-led culture of professional excellence in our teaching fraternity. They play a critical role in sharing effective pedagogies in the classroom, prototyping new teaching methodologies and supporting policy and programmatic work related to teaching and learning at the national level.

Increased MTT Provisions and Introduction of School-based MTTs

iii. Currently, MTTs are primarily based in MOE HQ to facilitate coordination of professional development of teachers across the fraternity at the system-level. They spend their time on policy and coordination work at the national level, and also devote a portion of their time to school attachments to ensure continued linkages with class practices as well as keep abreast of developments on the ground.

iv. In recognition of the significant impact of MTTs in enhancing the professional capabilities of our teaching fraternity, MOE intends to grow the number of MTTs over the next few years to post a significant number of them to schools - in particular, to strengthen linkages between HQ and schools for more timely support and to meet the aspirations of MTTs who may prefer to continue to teach in the classrooms.. These school-based MTTs will spend most of their time on teaching in the classrooms, co-planning and co-teaching lessons with fellow teachers, and leading Professional Development Committees within the school and at cluster and zonal levels. They will also work alongside HQ-based MTTs to level-up professional learning and support the professional growth of Teacher Leaders in schools.

v. Over the next few years, MOE plans to eventually post more than a hundred MTTs to schools to teach classes on a sustained basis. These school-based MTTs will be posted with effect from Jan 2021, and the numbers will be ramped up over time.

Enhancements to the Allied Educators Scheme

Increased Student Welfare Officer Provisions

i. MOE will double the number of Student Welfare Officers (SWOs) in our schools to better support vulnerable students. This will allow more schools to be supported with an SWO, and schools with more needs to be supported with additional SWOs.

ii. SWOs will support teachers and work hand in hand with other school staff and community partners to strengthen the safety net and address barriers to school attendance and learning for these at-risk students.

iii. The enhanced SWO resourcing will be implemented in phases, from Jan 2021.

Increased Education and Career Guidance Counsellor Provisions in Schools

iv. MOE will increase the number of ECG counsellors (ECGCs) to help students navigate the complexities of today's fast-changing education and job landscape. The increased ECGC support is critical in the immediate term to provide education and career guidance to students who may face greater uncertainties due to the impact of COVID-19 on the economy.

v. Our Junior Colleges will benefit from an ECGC each, and our secondary schools will have 1 ECG counsellor supporting 2 schools - up from a ratio of 1 counsellor to 4 schools today.

vi. The enhanced ECGC resourcing will be implemented in phases, from Jan 2021.

Better Support for Teacher Counsellors

vii. Today, teachers with counselling competencies complement School Counsellors in schools, in providing counselling support to students. To ensure adequate counselling support for students in every school, MOE will grow the number of teacher counsellors, and support them with better resourcing and training over time.

Enhancing Career Progression and Developmental Pathways

viii. To provide the different groups of Allied Educators (AED) with more opportunities for progression, MOE will also increase the number of middle- and senior-level positions to support various domain expertise and strengthen the professional leadership within each AED fraternity.

Enhancements to the Ict Support Scheme

Strengthening ICT Support in Schools

i. With the implementation of Blended Learning and the National Digital Literacy Programme, ICT support will become increasingly important. MOE will therefore increase the ICT partner-to-school ratio and provide a team of roving ICT team to provide administrative support in the rollout of personal learning devices for students. The enhancements will take effect from 2021.

Strengthening Career Development Opportunities

ii. To enhance career development opportunities for ICT personnel in schools, ICT capabilities will be formally catered for in the core school administrative team. Some officers will also be given the opportunity to contribute at the cluster level.