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"Preschool teachers' pay rise: No strings"
I WAS happy when I read last Wednesday about a salary rise for preschool teachers, only to be disappointed after reading that, in order to get an increase, we need to teach enrichment classes.
Teaching in preschool is a demanding job, preparing children for concerts, exposing ourselves to diseases like hand, foot and mouth and chicken pox, and often having to clean up their faeces and vomit. We have the responsibility to ensure they know how to read and write by year-end, regardless of parental help, and ensure their safety all year round. It is a stressful and draining job, both mentally and physically.
The least we could expect is a reasonable salary. I don't think it is too much to expect, for we have a family to support. For those of us who are married, if something happens to our spouse (and I pray not), how can we support our elderly parents and children on $1,400 to $1,800 pay in this day and age? With inflation and now recession. It is really quite spirit dampening.
Just yesterday, my relative commented that I am in the wrong line of work, with such low returns. I wonder myself many times. I am presently upgrading myself, taking a degree in Early Childhood, but still wonder if I have made the wrong decision. I will not get five-figure pay, compared to someone in business. I have to be practical, so why study more, I ask. When I ask my coursemates about salaries, they all grumbled at such 'miserable pay'. They would not have stayed, if not for their passion to teach children. So my question is, have we been taken for granted all these years?
I hope the Government will seriously look into this, or we will lose all the passionate teachers.
Chang Choon Kheng (Mdm)
"Pay more to qualified preschool teachers"
THIS letter is in support of Madam Chang Choon Kheng's letter last Tuesday, 'Preschool teachers' pay rise: No strings'.
I fully agree with her on the reasons she gave for a pay rise for preschool teachers. There is one more to add - that is the duty of teachers to give motherly love and affection to toddlers in school.
In addition, preschool teachers' pay is not according to qualification but experience. I agree that experience counts, but so does the extra knowledge a teacher has in the form of a higher qualification. A more qualified teacher can present a lesson better than one who has the minimum qualification, using the same teaching material and resources.
The only reason the better qualified teacher chooses to work in preschool is, as Madam Chang suggested, her passion to teach young children.
There are teachers with various qualifications, such as O and A levels, certificate, diploma, graduate degree and even master's degree. But there is no difference in the pay they get. This is very frustrating and one reason many preschools lose good teachers to better-paying jobs.
I hope the Government will look into this matter seriously and take action.
Veena K.H. (Mrs)
Comments:
I do empathize with Mdm Chang, as I am a preschool educator myself and I feel that our sector is a low paying sector no doubt. I feel the plight of most the preschool teachers in Singapore. Preschool education in Singapore has evolved from using textbooks and rote learning to a totally hands on experience, using play based, thematic and integrated learning. Due to this, preschool educators need to be more creative, always keeping in mind of creating developmentally appropriate programs, always on the ball without the aid of any textbooks and permanent tables and chairs for children as they would be learning from their environment and creative movements/expressions. With that, the demands of preschool educators are beyond what meets the eye in comparison to teachers teaching in primary schools. My personal view is that if the government is increasing the qualification for primary school teachers to graduates when they are currently holding either �A� level certificates or diploma, I feel that our teachers in this preschool sector who are mostly diploma holders should be paid on par with the primary school teachers with the same benefits that they are holding such as the medical, school holidays (for kindergarten teachers), etc. I feel that despite the work that we have done as stated by Mdm Chang, we are not appreciated as reflected by our salary. Mdm Chang states that the salary range for teachers in this sector is $1400 to $1800. But I feel that there are teachers out there who are qualified yet are still paid less than $1000. I feel saddened by the state of our preschool educators in Singapore. There has not been a benchmark for salaries but benchmark on our qualification. Our preschool teachers welfare has not been taken care of but the families of our �clients� are by providing them with subsidies and financial assistance. If there is such assistance for our �clients�, why don�t they do the same for the preschool centres who wants to pay their quality teachers more but are not able to due to the inability for parents to pay such a high fee for their children�s education even if they do decide to increase the school�s fee in order to increase their teachers pay. With a positive mindset, I do feel that our salaries will increase but it will take time. Boy it will take a long time for our government to set aside revenue for this sector, maybe by then I would have already gotten my CPF. Anyways� Salutes to all preschool teachers!!!
Posted by: Shyuhadaa at Tue Oct 21 20:52:07 SGT 200
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