Effect of Longer Training Periods on Intake of Trainee Physical Education Teachers

Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong asked the Minister for Education (a) whether the longer training period of 24 months for Physical Education (PE) teachers at the National Institute of Education as compared to 16 months for teachers of other subjects has any effect on the intake of trainee PE teachers each year; and (b) whether there is any plan to review the training period for PE teachers.

The training of Physical Education (PE) teachers at the National Institute of Education (NIE) takes longer as it also covers content subjects, such as sports science and outdoor education, in addition to pedagogical training. These skills are necessary for them to safely deliver PE lessons for students. For other teachers, they would already have acquired the necessary content knowledge from their basic degree before commencing their training at NIE.

The longer course has not reduced the number of applicants for the PE programme. The PE student teachers are remunerated during the training period. So, course duration does not disincentivise applicants from taking up PE as their teaching subject. Feedback on the NIE training programme from PE teachers and schools have also been positive. Hence, there are no plans to shorten the programme.