MOE doubles number of allied educators, adds staff to help lighten teachers’ load

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and the EdTech Masterplan 2030.

The Education Minister listed several initiatives that have been put in place recently to address the increasingly complex nature of teachers’ workloads.

These include a common set of guidelines given to school leaders to guide workload allocation; artificial intelligence (AI) tools in the Singapore Student Learning Space to help teachers work more efficiently; as well as digital platforms like Parents Gateway to reduce time spent on administrative tasks like collecting consent forms.

Teachers also have protected vacation time of about six to seven weeks to rest and recharge. And guidelines on parent-staff communication have been updated to minimise the blurring of lines between work and personal time.

Flexible work arrangements also cater to teachers’ individual needs, for instance, allowing them to leave earlier before the end of the school day if they have no lessons or duties, or to work from home on days when they have no classes.

MPs raised follow-up questions citing feedback from those in the teaching profession that despite the measures that seek to address the wide scope of a teacher’s job role, workloads have largely remained the same.

Dr Wan Rizal Wan Zakariah (Jalan Besar GRC), who serves as an adviser to the Singapore Teachers’ Union (STU), said: “Although things have changed, it’s similar still. Because you move the pieces around, but the plate is still as much.”

He asked if MOE had conducted any recent audits on workload, to possibly reduce this pain point for teachers further.

Other MPs also asked if there was deeper engagement with teachers to understand their concerns and challenges regarding increasing workloads.

In response, Mr Lee said the ministry has conducted surveys and dialogues, as well as received feedback from the STU, which has then informed changes in the system.

“As a result, we see changes such as Parents Gateway, implemented a number of years ago. School home partnerships, as well as the MOE (Engagement) Charter, which sets out clearer boundaries and expectations and draw clear aligns between teachers and parents,” he said.

With the Talis survey finding that Singapore teachers were quick to

, WP MP Kenneth Tiong (Aljunied GRC) asked if there were any target operational outcomes for AI adoption.

To this, Mr Lee said it is still “early days”.

“When you introduce AI tools, there is hidden work that’s created. Some of it is seasonal, some of it may be secular,” he said, adding that time is needed for teachers to familiarise themselves with and master these tools before seeing how they benefit workload.

With teaching becoming increasingly multi-faceted and taking place beyond the classroom, Mr Lee said MOE is committed to implementing new measures to allow teachers the space to teach with manageable workloads.

“Teaching being more holistic is no longer just found in the classroom, but also in CCA (co-curricular activities) and CCE (Character and Citizenship Education), in a whole range of other activities that enable our teachers to mould and nurture our students holistically… that help them to navigate society and the future uncertain world.”