Teachers to get 8 per cent pay increase

This is the news headline in Singapore.

http://www.todayonline.com/Hotnews/EDC120901-0000037/Teachers-to-get-8-per-cent-pay-increase

Teachers to get 8 per cent pay increase

Newly-appointed teachers already drawing higher salaries; recently-appointed also received adjustments

by Woo Sian Boon

04:46 AM Sep 01, 2012

SINGAPORE - To keep pace with market trends and commensurate with their roles and responsibilities, more than 26,000 teachers and some 500 Allied Educators will receive a pay rise starting this month, the Ministry of Education (MOE) announced yesterday, a week ahead of Teachers' Day.

Teachers, excluding those newly or recently appointed, will receive an 8 per cent gross monthly salary increase of between S$550 and S$830 depending on job grade. Allied Educators will see a 5 to 15 per cent rise in their salary, which works out to an increase of up to S$700 in their monthly pay.

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The numbers shown above are the increases, which are already comparable to the actual salaries of public school teachers in the Philippines. These pay increases in Singapore are in fact much bigger than the salaries of kindergarten teachers in the Philippines. The Minister of Education (MOE) of Singapore Heng Swee Keat wrote:

"It is challenging to be in the frontline, day-in, day-out, especially if our teachers also have young children or other family members to take care of. But to our teachers, take heart that your hard work and devotion is well appreciated by all of us, especially at MOE."

To Philippine public school teachers, we could only hope....