Problems that the million-dollar ministers are not solving

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Address teachers’ heavy workload, not just the inconveniences​

While it is good that teachers don’t have to respond to work-related messages after school hours, their biggest problem is simply that they’re overstretched.​

Elisha Tushara
Correspondent

It’s time to consider reforms that prioritise teaching quality and teacher well-being over multi-tasking ability, says the writer. PHOTO: ST FILE

Sep 24, 2024


SINGAPORE – Before I left the teaching service in April 2023, I was in 15 WhatsApp chat groups that were related to work.
These included chat groups with my form class of 37 Secondary 3 students, 12 English language department teachers, 35 drama club students and 11 subject teachers who also taught my form class.
More than half of these groups had important messages I had to take note of, or reply to, on a daily basis.
Sometimes after five periods of back-to-back lessons, I would check the notifications on my phone and shudder seeing the number of unread messages.
This came to mind when Education Minister Chan Chun Sing said on Sept 18 that teachers do not need to share their personal phone numbers or respond to work-related messages after school hours.
The aim of these new guidelines, he said, is to ensure educators have protected time to spend with their families, rest and recharge.
This is a step in the right direction. I do not think, however, that it will afford teachers more “me-time”. Teachers have many demands on their time and taking calls after school hours is just one issue, and perhaps not even the biggest one.

For one thing, the scenario of parents hounding teachers over trivial issues like spelling lists and which attire to wear is probably more common in primary schools, where most children do not have their own mobile phones.
And when I taught in secondary school, I seldom encountered the challenge of being overly accessible to parents or students after school hours.
The messages I received were typically from students, five minutes before the morning flag-raising ceremony, telling me that they were in the toilet with a tummy ache and would not make it for assembly.

So if you tell teachers that they won’t be disturbed after school hours, they will thank you. But they will also ask you to look at other aspects of their job that make it difficult.

One hat too many?​

What truly drains teachers of their time and energy is the range of responsibilities they have to juggle.
The work that teachers need to handle during the school day often spills over into their personal time after school.
Teaching is just one small part of a teacher’s job.
The hours I spent in the classroom were often dwarfed by the time needed for lesson preparation, marking, meetings, organising events, managing co-curricular activities (CCAs), conducting remedial lessons, handling disciplinary issues, performing committee and department work, as well as national examination duties.
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Teachers are pulled in many directions, often forced to balance the expectations of teaching in classrooms effectively with the numerous additional “out of classroom” duties.
The issue is systemic, and no amount of after-hours relief can address the exhaustion caused by overburdened schedules.
I’ll use myself as an example.
On a typical week day, I’d arrive in school before 7.15am and head over to the parade square for the flag-raising ceremony.
I’d mark my form class’ attendance, and message students who had not arrived to check if they were late or unwell.
My first lesson would start at 7.45am, and each period was 45 minutes long. I’d get a one-period break at 10am, which I would use to snack, print materials for the next lesson and squeeze in some marking.
After another two periods of lessons, I’d get my next break at 12.15pm. This time was spent having lunch, responding to e-mails and WhatsApp messages, and preparing the next lesson’s materials.
Since I was in charge of the Secondary 3 English lesson materials, I’d also use this time to print out the week’s resources for my colleagues and place the materials on their desks.
At 1.45pm, I’d begin my last two classes of the day. I’d finish at 3.15pm and quickly head over to the drama club room, to open it for students and the trainer before the co-curricular session started at 3.30pm.
Along the way, I’d meet three errant students and tell them to start on essays that were overdue.
While the CCA was ongoing, I’d go back to the staffroom and see two test papers on my desk that I needed to vet and pass on to my colleagues before leaving school for the day. So I’d grab the papers and my laptop, and head back to the drama club room, where I was stationed till 6pm.
I’d take attendance and start calling up the parents of students who did not report for their CCA.
I’d complete the vetting of the test papers and run up to the staffroom to hand them to another teacher, while trying to locate one of the students who had yet to submit his overdue essay.
Back in the drama club room, I’d read an e-mail about committee work. As a member of the spatial and learning environment committee, which is tasked to improve the school’s infrastructure, I was responsible for duties such as writing synopses for 10 student artworks to be displayed around the school.
After dismissing my CCA students and firming up administrative details like rehearsal timings, I’d look through the next day’s timetable to ensure all was in order.
I’d notice that some niggling tasks such as drafting a letter to parents, booking a bus and catering snacks had not been done. But since it was already a little past 6pm, I’d leave them for the next day.

By the time I finally collected the three essays my students submitted late and drove home, it was almost 7pm.
While spending time with my children and having dinner with them, my mind would also be on the three essays I needed to mark after they went to bed.
So while this new policy may offer some relief to teachers and set some boundaries, it is merely a small Band-Aid on a much larger problem – the excessive workload which pressures teachers to perform and also overwhelms them.

21st century problems​

The ministry has taken some steps to lighten teachers’ workload in recent years, including giving schools greater flexibility to pace the implementation of some initiatives, and experimenting with technology to support some tasks like planning lessons and administrative work.
But challenges persist. Teachers do so much more than just teach, and the job has become very complex in the last decade. Today, they are expected to weave technology into lessons, use hybrid learning platforms and manage students’ use of personal learning devices while ensuring they remain engaged.
Teachers also have to cater to an increasingly diverse profile of students with behavioural issues, special learning needs or mental health concerns. Discipline in schools can get more challenging with problems like vaping and cyber bullying. The push to develop “21st century skills” like creativity, collaboration and problem-solving has resulted in several curriculum reviews which teachers have to stay on top of.
All these developments are necessary and good, but does a teacher need to wear so many hats? Being spread so thin may in fact do a disservice to students under their charge.
Beyond the core duty of subject teaching, some educators are better at connecting with students, some have a passion for certain CCAs, others prefer reviewing broader school policies and brainstorming for new ideas, while some are adept at refining the curriculum for different student profiles.
Instead of expecting teachers to perform a variety of tasks and evaluating how effective they are across all of them, one way is to give them space and time to find their niche and where they can make the most difference.
It’s time to consider reforms that prioritise teaching quality and teacher well-being over multi-tasking ability.

 

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Forum: Relief teaching stint long ago convinced me not to enter the profession​

Sep 26, 2024

Correspondent Elisha Tushara’s Opinion piece “Address teachers’ heavy workload, not just the inconveniences” (Sept 24) hit the nail on the head.
I was a relief form teacher in a primary school for only six months, covering a teacher on maternity leave.
With teaching, lesson preparation, preparing exam papers, marking, and writing student report cards, I was convinced not to enter the profession full-time or otherwise.
There were times when I had no time for even toilet or meal breaks.
If this was the situation more than 25 years ago, the range of duties that a teacher has to cover now makes the teacher’s role even more daunting.
Ms Tushara gave important suggestions for changing the school education system. Just as there are now vice-principals to help in academic and administrative duties, the Ministry of Education should seriously consider “specialist tracks” for education officers to, for example, teach subjects, manage co-curricular activities, or counsel and discipline students.
School leaders also should not have to take students to perform at all sorts of community events.

Events and celebrations involving large-scale participation of students should be reduced, as teachers are inevitably called upon to train and chaperone students.
Last but not least, the bell-curve ranking system for education officers can be demoralising. A former principal did not feel it was right to place any of her hardworking teachers into the last grade. Her solution – share her own bonus payment with these colleagues.

Chan Wai Han

 

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Forum: More can be done to help Singaporeans balance careers and parenthood​

Oct 01, 2024

I was stunned to read the article “More Singaporean deaths than births possible by first half of 2030s: Prime Minister’s Office” (Sept 23).
Perhaps we should have seen this coming, given Singapore’s persistently low total fertility rate (TFR), which dropped to a historic low of 0.97 in 2023.
While various commentators have cited the high cost of living and stress as some of the reasons for our low TFR, excessive workload could be one of the reasons as well.
According to a survey of 1,000 workers in Singapore that was carried out in April, 47 per cent of the workers in Singapore feel mentally or physically exhausted by their work (Exhausted from work? Nearly half of workers in Singapore polled feel the same, June 13).
The survey findings also revealed that exhaustion is one of the three symptoms of burnout, and that 27 per cent of workers cited excessive workload as the top reason for their burnout.
While I empathise with businesses that are grappling with higher costs, I am afraid our low fertility rate has become an existential issue that will have severe repercussions on not just the economy, but also maintaining the Singaporean core.
While we may need to rely on immigration to complement the local workforce, immigration is not a silver bullet for our demographic woes.

We can try to raise our fertility rate by better integrating our work-life policies, so that Singaporeans will not have to forgo having children, or having more children, for the sake of their careers.
This point was raised in 2015 by then S R Nathan Fellow for the Study of Singapore Ho Kwon Ping. In his lecture, titled Singapore: The Next 50 Years – Demography And Family, he said the “takeaway for Singapore is that if we want the same birth rates as in Europe, we should work harder to promote work-life integration and gender equality within the family, so that, for women, there is no trade-off between having a meaningful career and enjoying motherhood”.
It seems that nine years on, we have yet to reach the stage at which all Singaporean couples can have meaningful careers while also enjoying parenthood.

Mohan Tamilmaran

 

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Forum: Beef up alternative transport options to cope with rail disruptions​

Oct 01, 2024


The recent East-West Line train disruption left many commuters, including myself, with limited options to get home (East-West Line MRT disruption: How a faulty train left a trail of destruction, Sept 27).
It also reminded me of an issue I have found increasingly pertinent: Singapore’s transport system seems to have a distinct lack of alternative options.
During a rail disruption, free bridging bus services are offered between affected stations.
However, these are insufficient to overcome the loss in capacity from MRT trains being out of operation, especially during peak hours.
Lines such as the North-East Line, the only line that serves the densely populated north-east, and the Circle Line, a key line for interchanges, are already crowded even outside peak hours, and past breakdowns on those lines have proven that reinforcement is needed.
The East-West Line going out of order raises another issue, namely that the line’s western section has a lack of nearby alternatives.
The Downtown Line is the only parallel line, and there are few bus routes through the mostly landed estates of Bukit Timah, rendering the Downtown Line a poor substitute for affected commuters until the Cross Island Line connects the two by 2032.

Building more connections between Jurong and the south, such as with the proposed Jurong Region Line extension to Haw Par Villa, should minimise the pain that such breakdowns cause in the future.
Yet, bus routes running parallel to MRT lines have been cut, reducing capacity along those corridors as a whole. It was only public pressure that reversed some of these decisions, such as in the case of bus service 167 in 2023.
This has left commuters with subpar alternatives during an MRT breakdown.
Given these points, I hope that the Land Transport Authority will seriously reconsider its approach to dealing with parallel bus routes, and further develop rail lines to increase rail capacity as soon as possible.

Roderick Foo Sheng Heng

 

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Forum: Time for centralised system to replace stallholders at school canteens​

Oct 09, 2024

It would be a good change if Mr Teo Yik Ying’s proposal of centralised cooking for all school canteens were implemented (There’s a food crisis silently brewing in schools in Singapore, Oct 7).
School canteens are in a fluid situation now. Some schools use vending machines for their food, some engage external caterers while the rest are still relying on individual stallholders.
The Education Ministry should help transit this discretionary method to the centralised system Mr Teo proposed.
I was the operations manager in a primary school from 2000 to 2016 and would like to suggest it is time for individual stallholders to leave the scene.
In 2011, I helped to implement the Healthy Meals in Schools programme in the school. The emphasis was on providing healthier food and drink choices, including wholesome meals that must include fresh fruit and vegetables and avoid unhealthy deep-fried food.
This was a good policy but it was not easy to implement because the change meant higher food costs for the operators.
Many were unhappy because they could not increase their prices as they liked. Somehow we managed to enforce this policy, though largely at the stallholders’ expense.

While pupils from poor families received financial assistance from the school for their canteen food, none was available for canteen stallholders to cushion their ever-increasing costs. It was not easy and over time, more of the stallholders just gave up.
The cost factor also led to some undesirable outcomes as some stallholders resorted to selling deep-fried food surreptitiously for higher revenue, thus turning it into a cat-and-mouse game between them and the teachers and me.
One was even caught recycling used disposable utensils. There were probably other cost-cutting measures that we didn’t know about.
Many stallholders in schools were loyal operators who could have worked in their respective schools for decades. They were thankful to be able to eke out a living in the schools in the early years of Singapore’s nationhood and served the schools well.
But young people nowadays would not want such low-paying jobs. The time to change to a modern centralised system is now.

Foo Chek Boon

 

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Forum: Time to take definitive stand against school bullies​

Oct 11, 2024

My sympathy goes out to the Meridian Secondary School student who was reported to have had her eardrum ruptured in the most recent reported case of school bullying. I wish her a speedy and complete recovery.
Something is obviously very wrong with discipline in our schools. It is time to stop denying that we have a discipline problem on our hands and instead ask ourselves some hard questions.
Are our current disciplinary processes updated and effective in the face of more cases of school bullying? Have we been too soft in our approach all these past years in dealing with this perennial issue?
Is the punishment commensurate with the hurt caused in such grievous hurt cases? Or are the bullies emboldened by their actions because they get away with just a slap on their wrist?
The Ministry of Education (MOE) has said that schools take bullying seriously (Comprehensive measures in place to address school bullying, Sept 30), but considering the number of cases being reported regularly on social media (then there are those which go unreported), something is still not right.
MOE needs to implement a much harsher regime (think old school) and set out even clearer punishments, and rules and guidelines on how it plans to deal with bullies in its schools and make them known to all students and parents.
Schools are meant to be safe learning environments.

It is high time we took a definitive stand against bullies and made it clear to everyone that there is no room for such violence (verbal or physical) in or outside our schools, and that perpetrators will be dealt with harshly.

Chan Whye Shiung

 

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Forum: Step up enforcement to keep eateries truly smoke-free​

Oct 16, 2024

The issue of smoking in certain coffee shops needs to be addressed. While the ban on smoking in non-air-conditioned food establishments, implemented on July 1, 2006, was a step in the right direction, its enforcement remains inconsistent.
Some coffee shops still permit smoking in designated areas, citing National Environment Agency licences issued prior to the ban, which creates an uneven playing field and exposes non-smokers to second-hand smoke.
The ineffectiveness of these restricted smoking zones is particularly concerning. In open-air settings, smoke easily drifts into non-smoking areas, undermining the ban’s intent. Additionally, the absence of punitive measures against establishment owners regarding illegal smoking weakens enforcement efforts.
As we strive for a healthier Singapore, it’s crucial to address these issues. Only through comprehensive and consistent enforcement can we truly protect all diners from the harmful effects of second-hand smoke.
I urge the authorities to review and strengthen the smoking prohibition measures at eateries. Our community’s health should not be compromised by outdated licences or legal technicalities.

Benjamin Chew

 

[KingFook Sr]

Each family should be entitled to a "one car" without having to pay COE and high import taxes. Its a disincentive if families are penalised as cars are essential in any family.

True.
If the PAP bothers.

 

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Nearly 4,000 people caught possessing or using vapes, about 20 per cent are students​

The Ministry of Health and Health Sciences Authority said there was a 52 per cent increase from the previous quarter. ST PHOTO: KUA CHEE SIONG

Fatimah Mujibah

Oct 23, 2024

SINGAPORE – Nearly 4,000 people in Singapore were caught and fined for possessing or using e-vaporisers over a span of three months, said the health authorities on Oct 23.
The Ministry of Health (MOH) and Health Sciences Authority (HSA) in a joint statement said the 3,840 figure recorded between July 1 and Sept 30 was a 52 per cent increase from the previous quarter.
There were 743 cases of students caught vaping by schools and institutes of higher learning (IHLs), 591 cases caught during community enforcement patrols, 44 cases found through enforcement operations in the vicinity of IHLs, and 16 cases detected at checkpoints.
MOH and HSA said they are working with the Health Promotion Board (HPB) and the Education Ministry to ramp up efforts to tackle the problem of vaping.
The agencies said they are also working with the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA), National Environment Agency and National Parks Board to carry out enforcement operations on several fronts, including at the checkpoints, on online platforms and in the community, schools and IHLs.
To address the problem in schools, the authorities are focusing their efforts on highlighting the harms of vaping, and that it is illegal in Singapore.
For example, HPB rolled out a campaign in July, which was pushed out across both outdoor advertisements and social media channels.

HPB also put up advisories on the digital platform HealthHub that aim to explain “widespread misconceptions” and falsehoods about vaping, and educate people about the common myths linked to vaping.
It also includes advisories that spell out the health risks and legal implications of vaping. In addition, schools and IHLs have stepped up efforts to teach students about the harmful effects of vaping on individuals, families and society.
Primary and secondary schools also tied up with HPB to teach nearly 37,000 students about the benefits of a nicotine-free lifestyle through skits from July to September.

Students who have been caught vaping have also been given support and strategies to quit. About 830 young people received counselling over the same three-month period.

Online surveillance​

HSA said it has been monitoring online content to identify those who vape in public, and use or pose with vapes in photographs or videos.
In July and August, it fined five offenders – four men and a woman, aged between 13 and 34 – who posted content of themselves with vapes on their Instagram and TikTok accounts. The posts have since been removed, said the authorities.
A 49-year-old man’s Tampines home was raided in September after a video of him vaping in an MRT cabin made the rounds on social media.

HSA found an e-vaporiser and other drug paraphernalia in his home. He was also wanted by the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) and is currently assisting HSA and CNB in investigations.
Online commerce platforms have also not escaped scrutiny. More than 1,900 listings of vapes and their components were removed from local e-commerce and social media platforms from July to September – more than triple the number compared with the same period in 2023.

Enforcement at high-profile events and at the borders​

A total of 253 people were caught through targeted operations at major, high-profile events.
The Formula One race weekend in September, for instance, saw about 200 individuals fined by HSA, while more than 50 who attended an outdoor music event on Sentosa in August were similarly punished.
The bid to stamp out vaping also extended to the borders, with HSA and ICA conducting several joint operations at the air, land and sea checkpoints.
More than 4,000 travellers were checked and 16 were caught with vapes.
A 32-year-old Malaysian man driving a Malaysia-registered lorry was also caught attempting to smuggle vapes at Tuas Checkpoint on July 17. He was found to have more than 20,000 vapes and components with a street value of more than $300,000 in his possession.
He was detained and handed over to HSA for further investigations. While under investigation, he tried to flee Singapore but was caught by ICA two days later.
He was later sentenced to 28 weeks’ jail on Aug 28.

Distribution rings disrupted​

The crackdown on vape suppliers over the past few months has also included in-person distribution rings.
On July 7, HSA officers conducted an operation in Paya Lebar involving foreign domestic workers. They intercepted 10 people – eight buyers and two sellers – before any transaction took place.
Eight vapes and assorted components, as well as illegal medicines intended for sale were also seized.
In a separate incident on Aug 21, HSA seized over 2,000 vapes and components with a street value of over $39,000 in Tampines. Eight people aged 26 to 35 were caught distributing the vapes in their vehicles at an open-air carpark.
All offenders in both incidents are currently assisting in investigations.

Court convictions​

The possession, use or purchase of vapes carries a maximum fine of $2,000. Those caught importing, distributing, selling or offering vapes for sale and their components can be fined up to $10,000 or jailed for up to six months, or both, for the first offence.
Subsequent offences can result in a fine of up to $20,000, or a jail term of up to a year, or both. All prohibited tobacco items will be seized and confiscated.
There were 21 people aged between 14 and 48 who were convicted from July 1 to Sept 30 for selling vapes and related components in Singapore.
The total fines amounted to more than $150,000, with one offender being fined $39,000 and another jailed for 15 months and fined $10,000.
Members of the public who have information on the illegal possession, use, purchase, import, distribution, sale or offer for sale of vapes can contact HSA’s Tobacco Regulation Branch on 6684-2036 or 6684-2037.

 

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Forum: Fixed rent system for hawker stalls would remove focus on bid prices​

Nov 22, 2024

I appreciate the latest efforts by the National Environment Agency (NEA) to deter high bids for hawker stalls by introducing safeguards against aggressive bidding practices (New measure by NEA to deter high bids for hawker stalls, Nov 4).

While this policy change is a step in the right direction, it feels more like placing a plaster on a wound rather than addressing the root cause of the problem.

The issue with the current bidding system lies in its focus on monetary bids, which prioritises financial capability over the true purpose of hawker centres: serving affordable, high-quality food to the community.


Even with safeguards, potential hawkers who offer unique, quality dishes but lack the financial means to place competitive bids may still be excluded from the system.

Take, for example, Dunman Food Centre, where it was recently reported that a rental bid for a hawker stall was nearly $7,000. This is an extraordinary figure compared with the median hawker rent in Singapore, which is $1,250.

Such exorbitant rents are unsustainable for many hawkers and often translate to higher food prices for consumers. While NEA’s new measures aim to prevent outliers like this, the underlying flaws in the system remain.

A year ago, I wrote to the Forum urging the authorities to rethink the bidding system. My suggestion then, which remains relevant today, was to replace the current system with a fixed rent system that considers food quality and the centre’s overall food mix.


This approach would ensure a balanced variety of offerings and maintain the cultural and culinary vibrancy of hawker centres, while keeping stalls accessible to promising hawkers with limited financial resources.

The bidding system, even with adjustments, may still inadvertently foster a climate of high rents and unsustainable business models. A fixed rent system, coupled with assessments based on food quality and diversity, would align better with the original intent of hawker centres and give the community affordable and diverse food options.


It is time for a comprehensive review of the hawker stall allocation system. By moving away from a financially driven model, we can better preserve the unique cultural and social role of hawker centres in Singapore.

Martin Lee Ming Han