SPED Teacher Well-Being

Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament

Mr Patrick Tay Teck Guan, Pioneer

Question

To ask the Minister for Education whether there are any plans to improve existing well-being related resources for special education teachers to address stress and burnout risks.

Response

1.Many of us know that the work of our special education (SPED) teachers is emotionally and physically taxing, and we are thankful for their strong commitment. MOE works closely with the Social Service Agencies (SSAs) running SPED schools to support our teachers' well-being.

2.In the immediate term, SPED schools will implement the Journeys of Excellence Package. This package was developed by MOE in collaboration with SPED schools and includes funding support for competitive salaries and professional development support to enhance the professionalism of teachers. SPED schools will also appoint a school staff developer to look after the learning needs of our teachers. This package will strengthen the hiring and retention of teachers to help address the high workload in our SPED schools.

3.SPED schools are also implementing measures to further improve teachers' workload and well-being. Parents are reminded to respect teachers' personal time outside of working hours. During the school holidays, teaching staff are given protected time to recharge. Teachers can also reach out to their school leaders directly for support, including to raise concerns or seek advice.

4.More importantly, in the medium to longer term, MOE is working with the SSAs and SPED schools on the following efforts as they may be more effective at the sectoral level, rather than the individual school level.

5.First, MOE will work with SSAs and SPED schools to deepen the professional capabilities in our SPED teachers and leaders with deep knowledge and practice in curriculum, and some specialisation in the various disability profiles. To be effective, this will be done collectively across the SSAs and SPED schools, rather than each school developing its expertise on its own. This is also a more systematic approach to support the professional development of our SPED teachers and leaders. I look forward to the various SPED schools, serving the same segment of special needs, coming together to lead these Communities of Practice and share their best practices.

6.Second, SPED educators have told me that it is not easy to take time off to go for training and professional development. MOE will work with our SPED schools and SSAs to jointly develop a pool of relief teachers who can step in when needed, so that SPED teachers can go for training, and be supported when they need to be away for other reasons such as medical or urgent leave.

7.Third, to strengthen their manpower resourcing, MOE will explore working with SPED schools to do joint marketing as a sector to better recruit teachers and improve their human resource management and processes. I look forward to working with our SSAs and SPED schools to make the career of our SPED teachers as respected, as professionally enriching and as personally satisfying as being a mainstream teacher. Where SPED teachers and leaders can have the confidence that their progression and development will parallel that of our mainstream teachers as a system at the sectoral level, rather than just within a SPED school.

8.Fourth, MOE is also in discussion with SPED schools and SSAs on how we can provide mainstream and SPED teachers with the opportunities to learn from each other, either through attachments or possibly even rotations, so as to appreciate other student profiles and contexts. This is similar to the current arrangement where we have teachers from MOE schools seconded to SPED schools.

9.Fifth, MOE will work with the SSAs to see how we can better achieve economies of scale in administration and infrastructure support, without losing the nimbleness required to cater to the unique needs of the respective SPED schools.

10.Just as in the mainstream education sector, teachers are key in the SPED sector. We must continue to take care of our SPED teachers and strengthen the professional capabilities in SPED so that SPED students can grow up to be active in the community or the workplace and valued by society. Achieving this will require the collective effort of the SSAs and SPED schools, which MOE is committed to support.

11.The key to managing the workload must be our ability to grow and work together, not just on the quantity of SPED teachers, but also the quality of our SPED teachers beyond the respective SPED school level. I am glad to share that we have gotten in-principle support from our SPED school community to work towards these collective goals as a sector.

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