Possibility for Teacher Given C-Grade to be Graded Differently in Another School

Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang asked the Minister for Education whether a teacher who gets a C-grade in one school can potentially get a different grade for the same work performance if ranked with teachers in another school.

MOE, like the rest of the Civil Service, has a performance management system based on relative ranking. The Member has raised a hypothetical question, but I believe his underlying concern is whether our teachers are assessed in a fair and consistent manner across schools. Let me assure the Member that every effort is made to do so and to take into account that human judgement and inputs are part of the assessment process.

The performance of our teachers is assessed based on a set of competencies and expected key result areas as stipulated in the Enhanced Performance Management System (EPMS), and the supervisor uses these competences not just to assess, but to also help teachers continue their professional growth and development. The supervisor’s assessment inputs are then brought to a school ranking panel, where there is a cross-ranking process. This allows us to moderate differences in supervisors’ assessments and establish common standards of performance assessment.

To better ensure consistency in how performance management is implemented across schools, our Cluster Superintendents, who oversee several schools, are present at the school ranking sessions to provide guidance and useful benchmarks on the standards for performance grading.

For all C- cases, the supervisors will follow up with the teachers to guide them on their areas for improvements and help them with their professional growth and development. With the support provided, we hope these teachers will improve in their performance grade in the subsequent years.