Commentary: Will cutting administrative work help schools recruit more teachers?

CNA

7 days ago

SINGAPORE: The need to recruit and retain good teachers is a constant in Singapore. The Ministry of Education (MOE) said it plans to hire more than 1,000 teachers annually, up from 700, to strengthen the teaching workforce in anticipation of more retirements.
In a similar vein, the National Institute of Education (NIE) will shorten its postgraduate programme for teachers-in-training from 16 months to 12 months. It will give them more flexibility to take elective courses based on their interests, and upon graduation, more support for professional learning in classrooms.
This is part of an ongoing review to meet the needs of a diverse teaching force and attract individuals with the right values and motivations to become teachers. But how successful will such efforts be when overwork is a chronic issue in the profession?
TEACHERS DO MORE THAN TEACH
Minister for Education Desmond Lee recently highlighted efforts made to reduce teachers' administrative workload, such as simplifying procurement processes and no longer requiring teachers to collate absentee records. This is so that teachers can 'focus on what matters most – helping our students to learn and grow well'.
However, teachers do far more than just delivering content to students. They must assume various roles and responsibilities, which have morphed with MOE reforms.
For instance, teachers must now meet individual learners' needs through differentiated instruction and inquiry-based learning. Artificial intelligence has made the tasks of planning and delivering lessons, as well as marking students' work, more complex than it was a decade ago.
The avenues for students to learn have also expanded to include overseas immersion trips, cohort learning journeys and outdoor adventure learning camps, all of which require teachers to spend time on the planning and carrying out of these activities.
THE CHALLENGING TASK OF CARING FOR STUDENTS
Another major MOE focus is students' social and emotional well-being. All teachers have a shared responsibility to foster a 'caring and enabling school environment', which includes building positive teacher-student relationships and peer relationships among students. This task cannot be accomplished overnight, nor is it easily quantified.
The idea of 'care' is a powerful and at times challenging one for teachers. For instance, teachers play a crucial role in detecting signs of student self-harm or domestic child abuse. Some teachers take on the task of patrolling the neighbourhood around the school after the school day has ended in a bid to ensure students' safety and well-being.
In 2022, then Minister for Education Chan Chun Sing rejected the idea of imposing an upper limit on teachers' work hours as 'unrealistic' because teachers would still work 'way beyond' what is expected of them.
Partnerships with parents are also an important aspect of teachers' work. Some teachers text parents with instructions regarding students' homework. Others conduct workshops for parents on topics such as supporting children in learning mathematics and enhancing children's English language skills.
Here, as in the case of teacher-student relationships, the boundaries between work and personal time may get blurred at times. The MOE has issued two sets of guidelines, first in 2019 and then in 2024, in a bid to for non-urgent matters.
Besides their work with students and parents, teachers must also dedicate time to their professional development through activities like mentoring colleagues and participating in workshops.
NOT SO SIMPLE TO CUT A TEACHER'S WORKLOAD
Calls to let teachers focus on teaching neglect the reality that working with students involves much more than lesson preparation and marking. Teachers, as frontline individuals who interact with students daily, will inevitably be roped into administrative work, and serve as the main point of contact for parents.
Artificial intelligence is often held up as a promising tool for teachers in the tasks of teaching and assessment. However, teachers must still spend time interpreting and reviewing the output of AI assistants before providing feedback to students.
Hence, current MOE initiatives to ease teacher workload, such as streamlining of administrative processes, the use of technology and allowing schools greater flexibility in implementing certain policy initiatives, can only go so far.
Aspiring teachers must be aware that the moral purpose of 'care' underlies a teacher's work. As former Second Minister for Education Maliki Osman pointed out in 2024, 'a teacher is one who is there to guide the student, go through the education journey holistically so that students also understand the teacher is available at any point in time'.
They therefore need to ask themselves whether their personalities and values are well-suited for the demands of teaching.
Founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew said in1966, 'If I have to choose one profession in which you give the most for the least, it is probably teaching – if you take it seriously'.
These are sobering words to bear in mind as teachers' workload continues to grow more complex in response to changes in the wider education landscape.