MR GILBERT Goh ('Performance-linked pay more harm than good'; ST, Jan 1) and Dr Ranjiv Sivanandan ('There's a reason it's called 'public service''; ST, Jan 4) felt there were better ways to attract and retain teachers than by enhancing pay and linking pay to performance.

The Ministry of Education (MOE) agrees that good teachers are not motivated by pay alone. They take satisfaction from seeing their pupils learn, helping to change their lives, and working with colleagues to improve what schools can provide the next generation.

However, there is no trade-off between paying teachers competitively and sustaining their commitment and love for teaching. Even good and passionate teachers are lost to the service when the pay differential grows too wide. If the Education Service failed to keep in step with relevant private-sector salaries, it would harm both the teaching profession and the quality of education in our schools.

Mr Goh disagreed with linking pay with performance. If pay is not to be linked to performance, then how should it be determined? Rewarding for performance does not mean ignoring the things that good teachers do or rewarding those who 'follow the crowd and do the necessary just to achieve above-average appraisals', as Mr Goh feared. Teaching creatively and effectively, going out of the way to look after the needs of students, contributing to others' capabilities, and partnering parents to meet the needs of students are all explicitly recognised in the assessment of teachers.

Teachers themselves support performance-based pay. The majority of the 3,300 teachers surveyed by MOE last year favoured a stronger link between performance and annual increments and performance bonuses. They also favoured more individual and team awards to motivate good teachers.

MOE's commitment to building a first-class teaching force is multi-faceted. We will ensure that pay remains competitive at every level of the Education Service, but this is not all we are doing. The Grow 2.0 package that was announced recently extends the opportunities for education professionals to develop themselves, and introduces further measures to enhance work-life harmony. Schools are also giving teachers more time and space to do what they believe works best for their students.

The revisions to salaries and terms of the Education Service over the last decade have helped us to recruit and retain good teachers, and raise the quality of education in our schools. A high-quality teaching force, properly paid, committed to excellence and passionate about nurturing students, is what allows us to do the best possible for every young Singaporean.

Lu Cheng Yang
Director, Personnel
Ministry of Education

Frst appeared in The Straits Times on Jan 15, 2008