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THE call to teach was so irresistible that Mr Vincent Lim did not mind taking a $4,000 pay cut to make the switch from corporate banking eight years ago.
It was not an easy decision to make, especially as he was a father of one at that time, he said. But, Mr Lim - now 35 and a head of department at Admiralty Secondary School - said he wanted to help mould the young.
To recognise mid-career teachers such as Mr Lim and help them 'catch up' with their peers who chose teaching as their first job, the Education Ministry (MOE) will enhance their pay and promotion tracks from next year.
Helping them catch up with others in profession
NEW mid-career teachers can look forward to faster promotion and pay increases from next year. Here are two case studies:
Case 1: A female graduate has a good honours degree and five years' experience in the private sector.
Her last drawn salary was $4,200.
She can get $3,347 as a trainee teacher if she joins teaching from next year - up from $3,172.
After completing her training, she can be appointed a general education officer (GEO) 1A1 grade and given extra salary increments to bring her pay to $4,100.
This is the same as a peer who became a teacher immediately after graduation.
Case 2: A male 'pass' degree holder with 11 years- work experience and previous pay of $4,500.
He will be offered $4,221 if he joins as a trainee teacher from next year, up from $3,697.
After training, he can be appointed to GEO 1A1 grade and given extra salary increments to bring his pay to $4,836.
If he does well, he can be promoted to the next grade in a year's time, bringing his salary to $5,373 - in line with his peers.
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The ministry wants to recruit more mid-career teachers to 'add diversity' to the teaching profession, said Education Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam at the MOE Work Plan Seminar yesterday. So, from next year, mid-career teachers will have faster promotions and extra salary increments.
But the rest in the profession will not be left out: The ministry is also reviewing the pay of all teachers, revealed Mr Tharman yesterday.
Without going into details, he said the move was necessary to ensure that teaching remained a career of choice.
He explained that while teacher recruitment is on track to hit 30,000 by 2010 - the number of teachers has grown from 23,600 in 1997 to 28,200 now - a buoyant economy meant greater competition for talent.
'Graduates are being courted by employers even before they step out of school,' he said.
The details of this pay revamp are expected by the year end.
Meanwhile, new mid-career recruits who are graduates, and have at least three years' working experience, can start one rung up in the teaching scale after they complete their training.
This means a few hundred dollars more per month in starting salaries. Plus, up to 80 per cent of their non-teaching work experience will also be taken into account when computing their starting pay, compared to 50 per cent now.
So, if individuals make the switch next year - they should be on par with their peers by the time they hit four years as trained teachers.
Existing mid-career teachers can also look forward to faster promotion and salary adjustments to help them catch up in four to six years.
Currently, mid-career teachers, or those with at least a year of work experience, make up 6,600, about 22 per cent of the teaching force, compared to 15 per cent five years ago.
On the average, 680 mid-career executives join teaching each year.
Many go on to do well, said Mr Tharman, citing examples like Henry Park Primary principal Ng Teng Joo, who was an engineer before he became a teacher in 1988.
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