MOE award holder: 'Teaching is boring'

THE Ministry of Education (MOE) is investigating an undergraduate teaching award holder who had complained online that teaching was boring and made disparaging remarks about students.

The award holder, Mr Haniel Soh, complained on Facebook and Instagram about his work and criticised students, Shin Min Daily News reported yesterday.

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Mr Soh, who is believed to be in his early 20s, said that mid-day selfies taken in a staff toilet, which he called a "safe haven", "are all that stand between me and utter boredom".

He was on a vacation attachment for close to a month between June and July at a secondary school here.

In a separate online post, he suggested that it was painful to teach a "tutee" who had body odour.

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Mr Soh said in another post that he was "very happy" that his tutee did not do his homework and wasted 47 minutes completing what was assigned to him a week ago. Noting that this meant "free money" for him, Mr Soh said "rebellious and angsty teenage boys are the best to teach".

MOE said it was looking into the matter. An MOE spokesman said Mr Soh "has yet to attend the National Institute of Education and is not a trainee teacher".

"MOE expects our teaching award holders to conduct themselves in a manner that upholds the standards of the teaching profession and befitting of MOE teaching awards," she said.

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Yesterday afternoon, Mr Soh apologised on Facebook for his earlier posts, which he admitted had "sullied the reputation of educators".

He gave the assurance that "I do indeed care for my students and am serious about my role as an educator in shaping my students' lives".

"I have taken down the offending posts and have apologised to the students involved," he added.

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