Desmond Lee, Jasmin Lau reach out to ex-teacher over letter criticising MOE on workloads & class sizes

Minister for Education Desmond Lee and Minister of State for Education Jasmin Lau have reached out to a former Ministry of Education (MOE) teacher in response to a letter she wrote to them expressing concerns for teachers' workloads and class sizes.

Shared concern about teachers' workloads

The former educator, Jo Ann Kuek, disclosed the letter she wrote to Lee and Lau on her Instagram on Nov. 21.

Kuek said she wrote to them after hearing MOE's responses to concerns expressed by Members of Parliament (MPs) about heavy teacher workload in Singapore.

"There was a justification, but no clear plans or concrete measures to ease teachers' workload," Kuek wrote.

Kuek claimed the initiatives mentioned by MOE in this area, such as work-from-home days for teachers without classes, or the flexibility to leave early "are not reflective of reality".

Most teachers do not have such days without classes, meetings or school activities which require them to be physically present, Kuek said.

She asked Lee and Lau if their staffers have "been on the ground" to see if these initiatives are actually rolled out, and to ascertain the take-up rates for the initiatives.

Class sizes

Kuek also shared her concerns about large class sizes in Singapore, and questioned why MOE "seems reluctant to address it".

She said that having taught seven classes of 40 to 43 secondary school students a year, "I can say equivocally class size matters".

"I'm not sure where the cited research MOE has been using comes from, but it does not reflect our local classroom realities," Kuek said.

She added that teachers' responsibilities, including preparing lesson plans, marking "hundreds of scripts weekly", on top of managing school events and co-curricular activities (CCAs) is "not sustainable".

'Please don't let teachers lose heart'

Kuek said that after posting her thoughts on workload and class sizes on social media, many teachers wrote to her to share their experiences.

"Some shared appalling experiences, like having to share anxiety medication in the staff room when theirs ran out, or heartbreaking ones, like being denied time off beyond the leave offered when grieving over the loss of a family member," wrote Kuek.

Kuek also recalled her own experience leaving MOE in 2010 after seven years, due to burnout and stress-related thyroid issues.

Kuek said that she has needed to take lifelong medication since.

According to Kuek's LinkedIn, after her stint as an MOE educator, she took on freelance writer roles and part-time teaching roles in the tuition sector.

Kuek urged Lee and Lau to consider making unannounced visits to schools, ask questions to a more representative group of teachers and "not just those placed in front of you during dialogue sessions", as well as former teachers "who no longer fear reprisal".

"Please don't let teachers lose heart, when so many still want to believe that change is possible or that their voices matter," she concluded.

Desmond Lee, Jasmin Lau reached out

In an update following her post, Kuek said that Lee and Lau had separately reached out to ask her to speak more.

She also promised to compile responses she had received from educators on the matter "so that they can have some idea of the real voices from the ground".

"I really appreciate everyone's support and courage in sharing, and I will not let it go to waste".

Top image from Desmond Lee/Facebook, thejojobeansdiary/TikTok & Jo Ann Kuek/LinkedIn