Improved prospects for non-graduates in Public Service

SINGAPORE — Non-graduate teachers with outstanding performance or deep experience will be placed on the graduate salary scale, without the need to obtain a degree, as part of a wider movement across the Public Service to improve career prospects for those who do not have a degree.

Other improvements announced yesterday include faster career progression for non-graduate public servants. From October, those who performed well can look forward to their first promotion in two to four years, compared with the current three to six years. And if they continue to do well, their subsequent promotions will also be faster.

The Public Service Division (PSD) is also studying the possibility of merging the different schemes that non-graduates and degree holders are hired on when they join the service.

The announcements come after Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said in his National Day Rally speech on Aug 17 that the Public Service would be looking at ways to offer non-graduates more fulfilling careers.

Speaking at the Singapore-Industry Scholarship award ceremony last night, Education Minister Heng Swee Keat noted that, currently, an experienced non-graduate teacher who has made outstanding contributions in school cannot cross over to the graduate salary scale without a degree. A new performance-based placement framework will change this, he said.

He added that the move will honour some of the best teachers, who have been recognised by their peers and school leaders for their teaching excellence and relentless effort to develop themselves to become better teachers.

Teachers will not be required to rise to leadership or senior teaching positions to benefit from the change. Mr Heng said the ministry aims to have the first batch of deserving non-graduate teachers put on the graduate salary scale by the fourth quarter.

He said the Ministry of Education (MOE) will continue to provide opportunities for all teachers to grow and learn on the job, be it through on-the-job mentoring, professional network communities, specialised courses or part-time study at the polytechnics, National Institute of Education or the universities.

“It is not about one qualification versus another, and not about whether you get a head start. It is about how ... You must want to excel and find opportunities to learn and be better.”

Wither all-graduate teaching force?

In 2008, then-Education Minister Ng Eng Hen said the MOE would aim to recruit all teachers with a degree for primary schools, as the ministry requires teachers to also have a stronger mastery of content and pedagogy on top of the aptitude for teaching and a heart for nurturing young people.

Responding to TODAY’s queries on whether it will continue with the approach, the MOE said it selects teachers taking into consideration their personal qualities, experience and content knowledge required to deliver the curriculum.

It added: “We will continue to hire graduates and non-graduates who best meet the learning needs of our students.”

The ministry said that currently, non-graduates — who generally have good diploma and A-Level qualifications — make up about 15 per cent of its teaching force. “Once in service, the MOE provides professional development opportunities for both graduate and non-graduate teachers to build up their effectiveness as teachers.”

Mountbatten Member of Parliament (MP) Lim Biow Chuan, who chairs the Government Parliamentary Committee (GPC) for Education, said that while it is for the MOE to consider whether there will be a conscious policy change, there should still be some differentiation between teachers who are degree holders and those who are non-graduates, at least at the starting point of their career.

Adding that graduates have spent a longer time studying, he said: “I think there is still merit in wanting your teachers to be reasonably qualified, because you are talking about a very important task to educate students. Also you’ve got to be mindful that teachers nowadays don’t just deal with students but also with very well-qualified parents as well ... Having a degree does help.”

But once teachers get into the workforce, other factors should also be considered for their career progression such as competency, experience and hard work, he said.

MP for Tampines Baey Yam Keng, who also sits on the GPC, said the previous focus on hiring graduate teachers would have to be adjusted to reflect what he described as a new direction. “If you have teachers who have displayed a good performance, good record, (and) they are able to motivate students, then they should be considered as good teachers and their career prospects should be as good as anyone with a higher qualification.”

Change under way

Under the wider changes to the Public Service, PSD deputy secretary (Policy) James Wong said: “While fresh graduate and non-graduate officers are appointed at different starting salaries, it is their job performance and relevant skills that determine their career progression. As long as an officer does his work well and shows the potential to take on larger responsibilities, he will move up the ranks whether or not he is a graduate.”

Currently, most non-graduates are hired under the Management Support Scheme (MSS), while graduates are placed on the Management Executive Scheme (MXS).

In some public agencies such as the People’s Association, the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore and the Home Team, graduates and non-graduates could be hired on a single scheme. National water agency PUB is developing a single engineering career path for diploma holders and Institute of Technical Education graduates to rise through the ranks and take on wider engineering or managerial responsibilities.

Currently, 56 per cent of the 139,000 officers in the Public Service have a degree, while 44 per cent have other qualifications including diploma, National ITE Certificate (Nitec) or Higher Nitec.

Starting salaries for diploma holders under the MSS scheme typically begin at S$1,800 per month. For a graduate under the MXS scheme, the starting monthly salaries may be as high as S$3,200, depending on the honours classification and whether the hire has gone through National Service.