Building a Sustainable Educator Workforce for the Next Phase of Education Reform

Mr Speaker, I move, "That Parliament do now adjourn."

Question proposed.

Dr Wan Rizal.

Mr Speaker, I would like to inform you that hon Member Mr David Hoe is also keen to speak on the Motion standing in my name under Standing Order 2(8)(b), and therefore, I propose to share the 20 minutes of speaking time with him. May I proceed?

Yes, please.

Mr Speaker, as we mark Teachers' Day, let us thank the educators who have shaped our lives and continue to shape our children's future. We honour our teachers, allied educators, early childhood educators and school support staff, and all who contribute to our children's learning and development.

During a recent dialogue, a beginning teacher spoke about wanting to be better at teaching, to reflect on his lessons, understand what helped students learn and improve the next lesson. Yet, alongside classroom teaching came co-curricular activities (CCA) duties, committee work and other responsibilities. Finding time for that reflection often meant continuing the work after the school day. But what stayed with me was the educator's desire to grow in the profession. We should nurture that commitment by giving our educators the time and support to develop their craft.

That is the question at the heart of this Motion: how do we build a sustainable educator workforce that can carry Singapore's next phase of education reform?

As a former educator, a labour Member of Parliament and an adviser to the Singapore Teachers' Union (STU), I am grateful for the opportunities to interact and work with our education unions through dialogue. This year, STU marks its 80th anniversary, while the Singapore Tamil Teachers' Union celebrates its 75th. We recognise the generations of union leaders and members who have strengthened the profession and improved educators' working lives. I also acknowledge the contributions of the Education Services Union, the Singapore Chinese Teachers' Union and the Singapore Malay Teachers' Union. I thank my fellow STU advisors and our National Trade Unions Congress (NTUC) and union colleagues whose research, consultations and proposals have helped shape this Motion.

Sir, as we broaden what success means for our students, we ask educators to support their well-being, respond to the diverse needs and guide them through the technological change. The sustainability of education reform depends on the sustainability of its educators. Their morale, growth and retention must be treated as a strategic national issue.

I will propose three shifts: how we measure reform, how we redesign educators' work and how we support the wider education ecosystem.

My fellow STU adviser, Mr David Hoe, will then develop our proposals on programme workload and operational support.

First, measure what reform means to the educator. The Ministry of Education (MOE) has introduced support through its refreshed Teacher Work Management Framework, flexible work arrangements and clearer school-home communication boundaries. We welcome these measures. The question is whether teachers experience consistent improvement in their daily working lives.

In our dialogues, some teachers supported leaders who stopped programmes and simplified their work. Others felt new activities kept on accumulating. I, therefore, ask MOE to work with STU and the relevant education unions to define and publish a set of educator-sustainability indicators, tracked alongside student outcomes. These should address real questions. Are excessive working hours coming down? Is the protected time for planning and professional development usable? Are well-being and retention improving? Are the gains reaching teachers across subjects, school levels and career stages?

Sir, MOE informed this House in November 2025 that its data showed teachers working an average of 53 hours a week. Its monitoring covers teachers across primary, secondary, junior college and centralised institute levels. The Ministry also acknowledged that while total working hours had remained stable over the years, the complexity of teachers' work had continually increased. That distinction matters. Stable hours do not, by themselves, tell us whether the demands within those hours are sustainable.

Sir, workload is also shaped by the number and range of learning needs of the students whom the teacher has to support. I am aware that MOE already implements smaller class sizes on a needs basis. Would the Ministry consider reducing class sizes in more instances, particularly where teachers are supporting students with complex learning needs? Smaller classes could give teachers more scope and opportunity to provide individual attention, build relationships and respond to the different learning needs.

This is why I ask MOE to work with our education unions to publish educator sustainability indicators alongside student outcomes, that covers workload, morale, professional growth and retention. These would help us assess whether our reforms are giving teachers the time and support to do their work well. The indicators should draw on existing information and representative sampling, with minimal additional reporting. Their purpose is to guide improvements in working conditions.

Recognition matters, too. Mother Tongue teachers raised concerns about how their expertise and contributions to cultural and school-wide programmes are being recognised, and sometimes not. Experienced colleagues wanted the capacity to mentor new teachers properly. Others continued teaching through flexi-adjunct arrangements while managing family commitments. We should learn what makes these arrangements sustainable, what makes sense, while providing sufficient cover so that colleagues do not simply absorb the remaining work. Educators should be able to grow professionally and care for their loved ones while continuing to serve our children.

Second, use the artificial intelligence (AI) momentum to redesign work together with unions. Sir, there is a history that we can build on. Mr Teo Chee Hean, then Minister for Education, recalled that when the first computer masterplan was ruled out in schools in 1997 and 1998, teachers' union members wanted to help train their members to use computers for teaching. And as STU marks its 80th anniversary, I hope MOE and our education unions will deepen this partnership and shape the next transition together.

We welcome MOE's support for teachers in using AI, including the Teacher AI Literacy Professional Learning Roadmap. One teacher explained that adapting an AI-generated lesson still required training time and support; and considerable judgement, because the teacher – only the teacher – understood the students' needs. Others struggled to attend professional development in competing duties.

This is where the Labour Movement brings practical experience here. Through Company Training Committees (CTCs), unions and employers work together on transformation and workforce development. As NTUC reported in August, more than 3,800 CTCs had been formed. AI-Ready SG supports workers and businesses in adapting to AI. We can bring that partnership approach into education, adapted to schools' needs.

So, I ask MOE and the relevant unions to jointly review the workload impact of major AI and EdTech rollouts, with evaluation proportionate to their scale, through the Teacher Work Management Framework.

Teachers and our unions can work together early to identify tasks to stop, simplify or redesign. Training should include protected time, peer support and clear guidance on responsible use. The review must account for the work of learning the tool, checking its output and completing retaining processes. We should avoid introducing a digital system while retaining the manual process. Most importantly, we should establish whether time saved is returned as protected planning time, student engagement or even rest for our teachers and whether these excessive total hours are eventually reduced. This would enhance our teachers' well-being, which in turn will enhance our children's well-being.

Third, support the wider education ecosystem. Sir, we must also recognise early childhood educators, allied educators, private and adjunct educators, tutors and student-care staff. Their roles differ, but their working conditions matter to the children and families they serve.

Let me begin with the primary school student care. Following the abrupt closure of a student-care operator earlier this year, teachers took on additional responsibilities in advisory roles. I raised concerns about the extra load. Building on MOE's governance review, we should strengthen student care's standards, staffing and operational resilience, while keeping it affordable through appropriately targeted assistance.

Continuity arrangements should mobilise suitable providers and support staff to reduce the impact to teachers and students. A dependable after-school care ecosystem supports working families and protects teachers' capacity for their core responsibilities.

Early childhood education deserves attention too. During a dialogue, a kindergarten teacher described photographing activities of her children and documenting the learning that took place, while trying to remain attentive to the students. She suggested fewer and more meaningful observations.

Her account connects with Education Services Union's (ESU's) survey of 1,312 respondents: 49% were concerned with administrative load and the same proportion with work-life balance; 65% identified inclusion and diverse learning needs as an additional training priority. These findings provide agencies, employers and ESU with a basis for focused action.

So, I ask MOE to work with closely with Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF), Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) and ESU on documentation demands, staffing and relief covers, predictable working arrangements, protected breaks and practical well-being support. Professional development should include specialist advice, mentorship and career pathways that recognise growing expertise through appropriate progression and remuneration.

For private and adjunct educators, we should, likewise, make workforce upskilling and job redesign support more accessible, including some CTC-style partnerships and relevant AI-Ready SG training. We can support these workers while maintaining a broader understanding of educational success. Their professional contribution deserves recognition without encouraging greater pressure on children to pursue just grades.

Sir, these three shifts are connected: measure whether conditions improve, redesign work with educators and strengthen support across the ecosystem.

Let me return to the beginning teacher I spoke about earlier in my speech, who wanted time to reflect on lessons and become better at teaching. We should make room for such aspirations. Our children benefit when their teachers have the time and energy to understand and help them grow.

I look forward to deepening our work with educators, together with the unions and MOE and turning these proposals into improvements educators can feel in their daily lives. This Teachers' Day, let our appreciation be reflected in the time, support and confidence we give educators to build a lasting career in education.

Mr David Hoe will now develop our proposals on managing programme workload and strengthening operational support, so that teachers have more time for the students who need them.

Mr Speaker, I thank Dr Wan Rizal for sharing his time. I will build on the Labour Movement's proposals by addressing two questions. First, how do we properly account for work that teachers undertake beyond the classroom lessons; and second, who should carry its operational demands when it comes to this work?

Our students benefit from CCAs, learning journeys, Values in Action and these experiences are beyond classrooms. Our schools also organise Speech Day, Open House, sports meets along with programme requests from other agencies.

These experiences matter. In a recent conversation I had with young working adults that pursue things that were slightly different from what they have originally studied, some shared that this experiences that they have experienced beyond classroom, help them to gain greater clarity of what they wanted to do.

These experiences that they have experienced out of classroom help them to discover their strengths, their interest in things, like events, management, coaching others, public speaking and the list goes on. So, I do not think that the answer to educators workload is simply by giving students fewer opportunities. Given the impact that this has on our young people, it is important that we resource them properly.

But behind every activity is a considerable amount of preparation and follow-ups – coordinating of schedules, obtaining quotations, arranging transport, communicating with parents and much more. The broader question, therefore, is whether every part of this work needs to sit with a teacher. Hence, my first point is that we need to properly account for the full workload involved.

In this regard, I ask MOE to continue requiring every school to account annually for the programme commitments beyond classroom. The teacher hours that this requires. Beyond simple accounting, what is more important is how it is implemented. Do our educators today, are they sufficiently clear and do they have consistent guidance on what should be included in these hours that are calculated?

For instance, it is not just the actual time spent on carrying out the activity. Time spent in thinking about how to design, redesign and also how to deal with unexpected changes. If we define workload too narrowly, we risk missing a significant part of the work, but if definitions are too broad, it becomes difficult to apply consistently.

So, there is value in making clearer to teachers and school leaders what should be reasonably included.

At the same time, I also just want to say that these figures must be understood with context and in context. A teacher taking a particular responsibility for the first time may reasonably need more time than a colleague who has handled this role for many years.

The aim, therefore, should be to be able to capture fuller workload of teachers while recognising differences in experiences and circumstances. Such review will ultimately help schools to establish a realistic workload ceiling calibrated to circumstances with proper justification and additional resourcing when exceptions are necessary. And when deciding what programmes to introduce, continue or sunset, we should ask a few basic questions.

Number one, how does this programme benefit the students against the other opportunities that are available? How much work would it create for the educator and school? What support will it come with? And more importantly, when something new comes into the calendar, should something else be removed? Individually, many programmes may be worthwhile; but collectively, it can create a workload that may be difficult to sustain.

My second point is therefore about how we staff these activities. There are aspects of these programmes where teachers are indispensable. You see at CCA, our teachers know our students. A teacher may notice a young person struggling, encourage someone who lacks confidence or exercise professional judgement when something does not seem right. The relational and pastoral role matters. But arranging buses, chasing quotation, coordinating vendor or reconciling expenditure requires a different set of operational capabilities.

In its response to 2022 Adjournment Motion on educators, MOE pointed to school administrative teams, funding for vendors to assist with events, enrichment activities and camps. Our proposal is to strengthen the capacity and importantly, to ensure it results in meaningful transfer of work away from teachers.

I therefore ask MOE to add a dedicated programme and events' execution post in every school establishment over and above current plans. By making this responsibility explicit, we become more intentional in how work is distributed, so that teachers can focus their time and attention on the development of the students. Such a post should have clearer responsibility for areas, such as procurement, coordination, scheduling, event administration and more. Teachers should be able to hand over operational tasks with confidence, with the main responsibility on caring for the child.

My final point is this: as we shift work away from teachers, we should also strengthen the wider supporting workforce that takes on these responsibilities. The same principles apply to appropriate parts of uniform group activities, sports and specialised CCA training, where suitable, trained adult instructors can safely take on specialised instructions or operational responsibility.

We should make fuller use of them while teachers continue to provide pastoral judgement and care that only the school can provide. Work together with the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth, SportSG, NTUC, the National Instructors and Coaches Association and our education unions. MOE should set out a multi-year plan to expand and professionalise such workforce. Such a plan should include set targets for qualified coaches, instructors and trained adult volunteer officers.

For paid workers, additional responsibility that we ask of them must be accompanied by fair contracts, development opportunities and sustainable career pathways. The work we take off teachers should land with people with time, skills and support to do well.

In conclusion, teachers should be where teachers add the greatest value. That is teaching, mentoring, exercising professional judgement and building relationships with our children and if we want our educators to be able to give their best to their students, then we must also be serious about giving their time back to where their work matters most. We look forward to the Ministry's response.

You had five seconds to spare, well done. Senior Parliamentary Secretary Dr Syed Harun Alhabsyi.

Mr Speaker, I thank Dr Wan Rizal and Mr David Hoe for raising this important issue, which matters deeply to my Ministry and our educators.

A strong teaching profession underpins a quality education system. Good outcomes depend on skilled and dedicated educators who nurture, inspire and bring out the best in every student.

Our educators do far more than impart knowledge. They shape character and pass on our values to the next generation, they support students' well-being in and beyond the classroom and they prepare our young minds for a complex and uncertain world that is very different from the one we know of today.

That is why MOE is committed to growing and supporting our teaching corps by: one, attracting and retaining good teachers; two, developing their capabilities; and three, addressing workload and well-being.

Dr Wan Rizal has raised two important questions. First, how should we measure whether our educator workforce is thriving and sustainable? Second, as we introduce new technology and AI-enabled tools, how do we know they are making a meaningful difference to teachers' work?

On educator sustainability indicators, MOE tracks a range of indicators relating to our educator workforce. These include teacher retention, participation in professional learning, workload and well-being trends, as well as feedback gathered through our regular engagements with teachers, school leaders and indeed our unions, including STU and the ESU. We look at a variety of workforce, well-being and engagement indicators to guide policy and strengthen support for educators holistically.

One important indicator of the health of the profession is our ability to attract and retain good educators. We have more than doubled our hiring over the past three years, from 600 in 2023 to more than 1,300 teachers in 2025. The mean annual resignation rates of teachers have also remained low and stable at around 2% to 3% over the past few decades – and this is not something that we take for granted. MOE will continue to strengthen the appeal of education careers and our recruitment efforts so that we maintain a strong pipeline of educators.

To keep education careers attractive and fulfilling, MOE periodically reviews salaries to ensure that our educators' overall remuneration remains competitive.

Beyond pay, career progression allows educators to grow, to deepen their expertise and to contribute in different ways throughout their careers.

Educators have different aspirations and strengths too. MOE therefore offers three career pathways – the Teaching, School Leadership and Senior Specialist Tracks – so that educators can pursue their interests and also fulfil their potential.

Another important indicator of a sustainable profession is whether educators continue to grow and develop throughout their careers. Our teachers' professional growth remains a priority for us. In schools, School Staff Developers and Teacher Leaders support teachers' professional learning. Master Teachers work alongside them to strengthen teaching practices and lead professional learning communities that build competence and confidence.

MOE's Teacher AI Literacy Professional Learning Roadmap helps teachers build AI literacy progressively, from foundational knowledge to advanced applications that ease day-to-day work and enhance teaching and learning.

We also value a diverse professional experience. Under the MOE's Teacher Work Attachment-Plus programme, educators can undertake short stints in the people, public and private sectors. These complement rotations within MOE and attachments to other Government agencies.

MOE regularly monitors workload indicators based on actual returns from teachers, in areas that Mr David Hoe has already mentioned. We acknowledge that while teacher workload has remained stable in terms of hours, the work is indeed becoming more complex. This is why MOE will continue to work on strategies to reduce workload.

MOE also shares Dr Wan Rizal's view that technology and AI should meaningfully improve teachers' work and free up time for what matters most. Technology is introduced to automate routine administrative tasks and reduce unnecessary workload so that teachers can focus on teaching, on learning and on supporting our students.

MOE has introduced various technology and AI-enabled platforms to reduce teachers' workload. Parents Gateway, as Dr Wan Rizal has pointed out, has streamlined administrative processes. Similarly, HeyTalia helps teachers draft communications. AI-enabled tools in the Singapore Student Learning Space support teachers to plan lessons, and also in marking and providing feedback to their students. This creates space for teachers to tend to the uniquely human aspects of teaching – and that is to nurture character and values, and building meaningful relationships with their students.

At the same time, technology alone cannot solve workload challenges. Sustainable workload management requires changes in how work is organised, supported and distributed across the school system.

Just as it takes a village to raise a child, it takes an entire ecosystem to nurture the next generation. Beyond teachers, the education ecosystem and community comprise parents, school leaders, allied educators, administrative staff and community partners too.

The Teacher Work Management Framework guides our School Leaders on how they can help teachers focus on purposeful work by creating a safe and empowering school culture and continually reviewing and streamlining school programmes.

The wider education community provides vital support to our educators as well. Adjunct teachers share the teaching load and help schools meet short-term staffing needs. Allied educators provide specialised support for students of different strengths and needs.

Over the past decade, we have doubled the number of allied educators in priority areas such as counselling and special educational needs, from about 800 to 1,600 across all schools. We have also increased administrative staffing in each school by 50% on average, which frees up valuable and meaningful bandwidth for our teachers.

Schools can also engage coaches, student well-being support and vendors for other administrative tasks, events management and student programmes. Such support enables our teachers to focus on what they do best – to educate our students. And we will continue to review non-teaching staff support in schools to better support our teachers and our students.

To Mr David Hoe's point on shared provisions across schools, MOE will also continue to look at how best to optimise resources such as clustering CCAs and centrally organising student programmes. For example, our Strategic Partnership CCAs (SP-CCAs) are centralised, non-school-based CCAs, conducted in conjunction with SportSG, to allow secondary school students to pursue their interest in sports. SP-CCAs are conducted by professional instructors and coaches.

Dr Wan Rizal asked about smaller class sizes, so that teachers have more capacity to support students. MOE already provides for smaller classes on a needs-basis and we will continue to review this approach.

We recognise that education reforms and new initiatives can temporarily increase workload. To support schools and teachers, MOE provides flexibility for schools to pace and where needed, even defer new system-wide initiatives. Beyond workload management, MOE supports teacher well-being through school-based initiatives such as Staff Well-Being Committees and Wellness Ambassadors.

Parents also play an important role by respecting boundaries for parent-teacher communication and maintaining reasonable expectations. Together, these measures help educators sustain the vital work of teaching and caring for students.

Singapore’s education system rests on the dedication, professionalism and commitment of generations of educators. Dr Wan Rizal and Mr David Hoe are right that sustaining a strong educator workforce must remain a national priority. MOE shares this commitment.

When we invest in educators, we are investing in every child, every learner and in Singapore's future. It is fitting that Dr Wan Rizal and Mr David Hoe raised this issue in the month when we have just celebrated Teachers' Day. The occasion is not only an affirmation of teachers' dedication, but also a reminder to appreciate and support them as they shape our next generation.

On behalf of MOE, our students and parents, I thank all our teachers for their dedication. Thank you very much to our teachers.

Question put, and agreed to.

Resolved, "That Parliament do now adjourn."

Pursuant to Standing Order 2(3)(a), I wish to inform hon Members that the Sitting tomorrow will commence at 10.30 am. Order. Order.

Adjourned accordingly at 9.27 pm.