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SEPT 2, 2004
Teachers may get assistants in class
Teachers' union seeks approval for such aides so that teachers, relieved of chores, can focus on class instruction

By Lynn Lee

TEACHERS here might soon get Filipino aides to help out with classroom management, draw up lesson plans and supervise co-curricular activities, if the Singapore Teachers' Union (STU) gets its way.

Its new cooperative, Educare, is waiting for the Education Ministry's okay to engage two or three aides for each of 16 primary and secondary schools by year's end, so teachers have more time for classroom instruction.

If this succeeds, it wants to expand the use of such aides to other schools.

Educare, launched yesterday by Education Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam, wants to 'go beyond the limits of merely organising professional development courses' and offer teachers help both in and out of the classroom, said STU general secretary Swithun Lowe.

The schools will have to pay the aides from their own pocket or from the manpower grant they get from the ministry, and STU will source eligible candidates and find them housing, among other things.

A handful of schools have teacher's aides, who perform basic tasks such as photocopying, but are not trained teachers.

Bukit View Secondary principal James Ong, who has two such aides in his school, said that getting more help would 'free the teachers to give them more time to do their professional teaching'.

Educare is also planning to take over some administrative duties of teachers, such as organising staff dinners and other school functions.

STU president Mike Thiruman said: 'We want to relieve our teachers in these small areas so that their work-life balance will be better.

'Instead of teachers organising Teachers' Day dinner for themselves, we can put together the whole thing and they can just enjoy the event.'

Educare intends to start an infant and child-care centre on its Yio Chu Kang premises, in partnership with Learning Vision or Kinderland, both established child-care providers. This centre will start operating as early as 6.30am, so teachers have time to drop their children off before school. Most centres open at 7am or later.

Mrs Ariel Tan, 28, who teaches at Poi Ching School in Toa Payoh, said it would be a boon to teachers in the morning session who have young children.

'It's also an encouragement to teachers like myself who are thinking of starting families,' she added.

Educare, which has $1.5 million in its kitty, will continue to offer teachers courses to upgrade themselves as well as scholarships for further studies and research grants. It is also looking to manage international schools overseas.


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posted by Marcus Ang @ 10:44 AM