Myths About The Teaching Profession

Ok... I noe I grumble alot but at least I'm not the only one who dread going back to work... come online open up msn can straight away see (from their msn nick/msg) most of my teacher frenz are oso getting all moody & apprehensive abt the holidays ending & going back to the hectic school life...

Really... u realli have to be in the profession to understand the feeling... outsiders often envy us for the "high pay", "short working hours" & "long holidays" etc... total bullsh*t...

Number 1 Myth...

Teaching is a high-paying job... my ass... ya the starting salary (considering a fresh uni/poly grad) is not bad but its only purpose is to serve as a lure to attract people into the profession... after u take the bait, u'll soon realize tat the private sector actually pays beta, MUCH beta... why? let me explain... the yearly salary increment for civil sector is more or less fixed... for me, my yearly increment is less than 100 bucks... utterly miserable & pathetic... even for uni grad, only abt 200... so u see, despite the "higher" starting pay, those in the private sector can catch up & overtake easily within a few years...

And dun forget the bonus... in a good economic year, getting a 2.25 month bonus (inclusive of 13th mth somemore) is considered beri good for civil sector le... not like private sector, u can read in papers tat some companies can give like 6-12 mths, or even up to 24 mths! (it's true)... imagine getting 2 years' salary at one shot for bonus, it's juz crazy... ok maybe u'll say not all companies so good... but it's still demoralizing during gatherings when I hear my fren say "My company not doing well tis year, bonus ONLY 3 months"... WTF?!

Myth Num 2...

Short working hours? Ok... wat I can say is... "officially" the hours are short... I mean... school hours for one session are around 5-6 hours (for my sch is from abt 0725-1255)... but tat is juz "official" for the kids leh... other than normal classroom teaching, we still have marking, lesson plans, prepare worksheets, CCAs, meetings, courses, workshops, sharing sessions, school admin etc etc... the list continues... even some things 有的没的 oso we have to do... for example, I'm in charge of sch pantry (refilling the biscuits, coffee etc)... if u tink tat's bad, I have colleague in charge of toilet... toopid rite?

So due to the immense workload, it's beri common for teachers to bring their work home... some even have to work thru the wee hours... weekends burnt is normal...

Myth 3...

Long school holiday? dun always assume realli have holiday... like my fren who kana one week of remedial plus 2 weeks of sch camp for a 4-week holiday... sad hor...

Even for the "luckier" ones like me (only kana 1st week), school holidays for teachers is super bohua de... coz it's always peak period... going abroad can cost twice as much as usual... and u cun choose your holiday... we cun take leave (other than the unofficial leave called MC)... and oso hard to find travel kakis coz other people wun wana bear the extra costs...

In conclusion (post too long le, time to conclude)... juz ask yourselves a simple Q... if teaching is realli such a bed of roses like some people imagine it to be, why is the turnover rate so high? Have u ever wondered why MOE is recruiting people all year round (the ads & recruitment exercises nv stop)? Nid so many teachers meh? No, it's becoz so many quitting/retiring tat nid to replace with fresh blood constantly... Bed of roses? Maybe juz the thorns part...