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SINGAPORE - To the bank, it was a case of responding to employees' needs and their favourable feedback is proof of that.
To Minister of State (Transport and Finance) Josephine Teo, however, OCBC Bank's new PSLE Leave Scheme is "over-the-top" and feeds into parents' anxiety over how their child performs in the national exam.
Writing on her Facebook page yesterday, Mrs Teo criticised the bank's recent move to allocate leave for its staff to take time off to help their children prepare for the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE).
Without naming the bank, Mrs Teo wrote: "The bank may have been well-intentioned ... But they may not have realised that this feeds into fears of parents, and that they are somehow unusual if they don't take leave during their children's PSLE."
She added: "There are many things we hope to see employers doing for their staff. PSLE Leave should NOT be one."
Mrs Teo, whose twin children took the PSLE this year, said she did not think "the default assumption should be that working parents need to take significant time off to help their children prepare for PSLE".
She added: "We are quite mistaken to behave as if PSLE is THE defining moment in a child's development. It does not warrant such special attention compared to other significant moments we parents ought to watch out for."
Under a first-of-its-kind scheme, employees in OCBC Bank and its subsidiaries can carry forward between 10 and 15 days of leave if their child is sitting for the PSLE in the following year.
When asked to respond to Mrs Teo's remarks, OCBC Bank Head of Group Corporate Communications Koh Ching Ching pointed out that the PSLE Leave Scheme is one of two new measures - the other is a scheme under which OCBC staff can take up to three months' sabbatical leave for any reason - that are "part of a slew of work-life balance initiatives" that the bank has introduced over the years.
Ms Koh added: "We have seen more and more employees applying for annual leave to spend time with their children who are taking PSLE or for sabbatical leave to take a break from work."
Since the launch of the new schemes on Sept 25, "the feedback from our employees and industry peers has been very favourable", she said.
Citing her own experience, Mrs Teo said on Facebook that she and her husband did not have to do anything out of the ordinary - apart from cutting down overseas travel near the dates of the exams to give "moral support" - when their children were preparing for the PSLE. (There you are - the cho boh minister whose Freudian slip here shows us the hypocrite that she really is. So, it is okay for her to 'provide moral support' to her kids but it is NOT alright for other parents to provide the same moral support via staying home? The annual leave is the employees' entitlement and how they want to use it is up to them. Offering PSLE leave is an employer's prerogative to have happy employees. And Josephine Teo is from the NTUC too?)
"It has been very clear to us that this is their exam and only they can influence the outcome," she said.
(Comments like these are uncalled for. Her heartless placing of the entire burden on a 12-year old kid is a good indication of her compassion level and the height of the ivory tower she lives in).
Mrs Teo's comments drew strong reactions on the social networking site. Some agreed with her while others pointed out that the root of the problem lies with the pressures of the education system.
Mrs Teo did not respond to TODAY's queries by press time. Nevertheless, Members of Parliament TODAY spoke to felt that she was speaking in a personal capacity as a parent.
Mountbatten MP Lim Biow Chuan, who chairs the Government Parliamentary Committee (GPC) for Education, said: "I will not criticise OCBC as their intentions were good, but I do not think the leave is something that we need as it sends the signal that a caring parent has to take this leave and this in turn adds more pressure on the child."
Chua Chu Kang GRC MP Low Yen Ling, who also sits on the GPC, reiterated that it is "up to the parents to know what will work for their children".
She said: "The move by OCBC is laudable ... I think Mrs Teo is sharing her personal experience and we have to respect that."
- http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC121025-0000065/Fanning-the-exam-fever?
To Minister of State (Transport and Finance) Josephine Teo, however, OCBC Bank's new PSLE Leave Scheme is "over-the-top" and feeds into parents' anxiety over how their child performs in the national exam.
Writing on her Facebook page yesterday, Mrs Teo criticised the bank's recent move to allocate leave for its staff to take time off to help their children prepare for the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE).
Without naming the bank, Mrs Teo wrote: "The bank may have been well-intentioned ... But they may not have realised that this feeds into fears of parents, and that they are somehow unusual if they don't take leave during their children's PSLE."
She added: "There are many things we hope to see employers doing for their staff. PSLE Leave should NOT be one."
Mrs Teo, whose twin children took the PSLE this year, said she did not think "the default assumption should be that working parents need to take significant time off to help their children prepare for PSLE".
She added: "We are quite mistaken to behave as if PSLE is THE defining moment in a child's development. It does not warrant such special attention compared to other significant moments we parents ought to watch out for."
Under a first-of-its-kind scheme, employees in OCBC Bank and its subsidiaries can carry forward between 10 and 15 days of leave if their child is sitting for the PSLE in the following year.
When asked to respond to Mrs Teo's remarks, OCBC Bank Head of Group Corporate Communications Koh Ching Ching pointed out that the PSLE Leave Scheme is one of two new measures - the other is a scheme under which OCBC staff can take up to three months' sabbatical leave for any reason - that are "part of a slew of work-life balance initiatives" that the bank has introduced over the years.
Ms Koh added: "We have seen more and more employees applying for annual leave to spend time with their children who are taking PSLE or for sabbatical leave to take a break from work."
Since the launch of the new schemes on Sept 25, "the feedback from our employees and industry peers has been very favourable", she said.
Citing her own experience, Mrs Teo said on Facebook that she and her husband did not have to do anything out of the ordinary - apart from cutting down overseas travel near the dates of the exams to give "moral support" - when their children were preparing for the PSLE. (There you are - the cho boh minister whose Freudian slip here shows us the hypocrite that she really is. So, it is okay for her to 'provide moral support' to her kids but it is NOT alright for other parents to provide the same moral support via staying home? The annual leave is the employees' entitlement and how they want to use it is up to them. Offering PSLE leave is an employer's prerogative to have happy employees. And Josephine Teo is from the NTUC too?)
"It has been very clear to us that this is their exam and only they can influence the outcome," she said.
(Comments like these are uncalled for. Her heartless placing of the entire burden on a 12-year old kid is a good indication of her compassion level and the height of the ivory tower she lives in).
Mrs Teo's comments drew strong reactions on the social networking site. Some agreed with her while others pointed out that the root of the problem lies with the pressures of the education system.
Mrs Teo did not respond to TODAY's queries by press time. Nevertheless, Members of Parliament TODAY spoke to felt that she was speaking in a personal capacity as a parent.
Mountbatten MP Lim Biow Chuan, who chairs the Government Parliamentary Committee (GPC) for Education, said: "I will not criticise OCBC as their intentions were good, but I do not think the leave is something that we need as it sends the signal that a caring parent has to take this leave and this in turn adds more pressure on the child."
Chua Chu Kang GRC MP Low Yen Ling, who also sits on the GPC, reiterated that it is "up to the parents to know what will work for their children".
She said: "The move by OCBC is laudable ... I think Mrs Teo is sharing her personal experience and we have to respect that."
- http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC121025-0000065/Fanning-the-exam-fever?
