Teachers will no longer be required to answer work-related messages outside school hours and will provide parents with only their official email and office number. Speaking at the 2024 Schools Work Plan Seminar on Sep. 18, Minister for Education Chan Chun Sing discussed setting boundaries and recalibrating expectations of educators, as well as streamlining some non-teaching duties like exam duties and administrative work. Chan emphasised the importance of prioritising tasks to avoid overburdening teachers and negatively impacting their effectiveness and well-being.
Background
The announcement comes as part of a broader initiative to address the increasing demands placed on educators. The Ministry of Education (MOE) aims to create a more sustainable work environment for teachers by reducing their non-teaching responsibilities and setting clear boundaries for work-related communications. This move is intended to allow teachers to focus more on their primary role of educating students and to ensure they have adequate time for personal rest and family life.
Lightening teachers’ workload
To help lighten teachers’ workloads, Chan announced that the MOE will streamline non-teaching duties, including exam duties and administrative work. One example is the consolidation of the GCE oral exams for English and Mother Tongue, which will reduce the examination administrative workload by 10 per cent, or about 700 man-days. By 2025, the oral exam periods will be further consolidated into a single period of three full days and two afternoons in July. From 2027, separate ‘N’ or ‘O’ Level exam periods will no longer exist, reducing the number of exam sessions by about half and lessening the invigilation load by up to 5,000 man-days.
Parents can submit documents via soft copy
MOE will also pilot a feature in Parents Gateway, the portal for schools to communicate with parents, that allows parents to submit their child’s documents for absences electronically. Teachers will then be notified of their students’ absence and no longer need to manually collect and verify the documents. The pilot will be conducted in 10 schools across primary to pre-university levels in the first school term of 2025 and will be progressively rolled out to all schools by the end of 2025.
“We will continue to explore ways to streamline our curriculum and work to enable the teachers to focus more on the students’ development and their value dispositions, beyond the transmission of content knowledge,” said Chan.
Setting boundaries and reducing workload
Beyond streamlining administrative work, Chan also noted the need to set boundaries and “recalibrate expectations on what educators should and should not do”. Teachers should not be expected to respond to work-related messages outside of school hours, except for emergencies or urgent duty-related matters.
“Can I declare this: I never check my son’s spelling list. It is not that I am an irresponsible parent. It is not even that I am a chill parent. It is just that I want him to remember it is his spelling list, it is not my spelling list. It is his job to figure out and remember this, and this is part of his learning. It is not that we care less. In fact, it is because I care for him, I want him to grow, I want him to develop. I do not want him to develop a crutch mentality.”
In addition, teachers are not required to give parents their personal mobile numbers; they are to use only official channels, such as their official email and office numbers when contacting parents. Chan noted that he does not want to make it a habit for educators to get “buzzed” at different times of the day and to protect educators from “a very small minority that can take up an inordinate amount of time and effort”.
“All this is to establish the boundaries to allow our educators to focus on conducting classes and student activities, and to ensure that our educators have protected time after school hours to take care of their families, rest and recharge.”
MOE will also place greater emphasis on parents’ expected conduct when interacting with school staff and will take firm action against those who harass or abuse the staff. “Today, I want to start this conversation. I have just started with the tip of the iceberg on what we should set as the baseline expectations to enable our educators to focus and prioritise student-centric work,” Chan added.
Future implications
The changes announced by Chan are part of a long-term strategy to improve the working conditions for teachers and ensure they can deliver high-quality education without being overburdened by administrative tasks. By setting clear boundaries and reducing non-teaching duties, the MOE aims to create a more balanced and sustainable work environment for educators. This initiative is expected to have positive implications for both teachers and students, fostering a more focused and effective educational experience.
