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Education
As a university graduate, you can generally apply to be a teacher in a primary, secondary or junior college. Applicants looking to specialise in certain subjects, such as Mother Tongue Language, Physical Education, Music and Arts require additional entry admission criteria. Candidates have to first undergo an Entrance Proficiency Test (unless exempted) and pass an interview before being admitted to the service.
Once accepted, candidates undergo a one- to two-year postgraduate diploma course in education at the National Institute of Education (NIE), which is fully paid for by the Ministry of Education. Upon graduating from NIE, teachers are expected to serve a three-year bond with the Ministry.
The teaching industry is largely dominated by teachers employed by the Ministry of Education (MOE), with a small proportion employed by private education institutes such as pre-school centers and tertiary institutions like the Singapore Institute of Management.
Career track
There are currently three tracks offered to teachers: teaching, leadership and specialist. The teaching track allows one to advance to the top position as a master teacher, whereas the leadership track gives you the opportunity to take on leadership positions in schools and the Ministry’s headquarters. If you are inclined towards niche segments such as curriculum planning or education psychology, there are opportunities in the specialist track for you.
Salary and benefits
Successful candidates will be appointed into the Singapore Education Service as trainee teachers on the General Education Officer 1 (GEO 1) or General Education Officer 2 (GEO 2) salary scales and receive a full monthly salary while teaching in schools or undergoing NIE training. Additional salary increments may be granted for relevant working experience.
On top of a salary and bonus, teachers can also enjoy the retention benefit scheme ‘CONNECT’, which encourages teachers to stay in the service.
Besides medical benefits and insurance coverage, there are also flexible work arrangements to cater for teachers who have young children below 12 years old.
Training and development
As a teacher, there is a wide variety of opportunities to develop your skills through service training courses. Officers earmarked to be heads of departments are sent for the Diploma in Departmental Management (DDM) programme, whereas those who have the potential to be school leaders attend the Leaders in Education programme at NIE.
There are also sabbatical opportunities for postgraduate programmes where candidates can apply for interest-free study loans and MOE course sponsorships to specialise in areas such as educational administration and curriculum development.
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