MR Santokh Singh raised concerns over the fairness of the appraisal system for teachers and principals ("Time to relook appraisal system for schools?", The New Paper, 16 Jan).

He has, unfortunately, linked the new pay and career package for teachers to recent unrelated reports about students being counselled to choose the Institute of Technical Education route over continuing in Secondary 5.

In the assessment of principals and teachers, there is no over-emphasis on students' academic results.

Teachers are assessed on several competencies, the most important of which is their critical role in the students' holistic development.

As such, teaching creatively and effectively, going out of the way to look after the students' needs and partnering parents to meet these needs, as well as contributing to other teachers' capabilities are all explicitly recognised in the assessment of teachers.

Similarly, principals are assessed on a range of competencies that go far beyond academic results.

Good principals show visionary leadership and have the drive to realise the school's vision.

They have personal integrity and inspire others. They also think strategically, developing their students and teachers to reach their full potential.

Above all, they have a heart for their students, and work hard with teachers to motivate students to achieve academically and in non-academic fields.

Indeed, some of our most well-respected and capable school leaders run schools where the students are not the "best and brightest" according to Mr Singh's definition.

We agree with Mr Singh that appraisees would be able to gain new insights if they could receive feedback from all levels (ie: subordinates, peers and supervisors).

We have introduced the 360-degree feedback tool as a developmental tool for principals, vice-principals and heads of department, to help them better understand their strengths and the areas they may need to improve on.

MOE's commitment to building a first-class teaching force is multi-faceted.

We want to recognise and reward our teachers appropriately while encouraging them to continually improve.

Schools are also giving teachers more time and space to do what they believe works best for their students.

A high-quality teaching force, committed to excellence and passionate about nurturing their students, is what allows us to do the best possible for every young Singaporean.

Lu Cheng Yang
Director, Personnel
Ministry of Education