S’pore ex-PE teacher, 29, shares why she paid 5-figure bond & left teaching

An ex-Physical Education (PE) teacher in Singapore went online to share her honest reasons for leaving her job, despite her decent pay, bonuses and other benefits that came with it.

On Aug. 24, 29-year-old Sakinah shared her personal experience in an Instagram post.

In the post, Sakinah shared how she did an untrained teaching stint before going to the National Institute of Education (NIE) for two years of training.

After completing her teaching practicum, she was then posted to a primary school, where she taught for one year as a Beginning Teacher.

Teaching is only 'a fraction of the pie'

The 29-year-old made it clear in the post that she most definitely enjoyed teaching, as it gave her the spark she had lost along the way in her adult years.

"There's something so special and fresh about seeing ideas come to fruition, seeing the kids innovate and get creative once they've received the right type of guidance," she said.

However, it was still not enough for her to stay.

Instead, Sakinah chose to leave, paying off a bond that she told Mothership was a five-figure amount, which "wiped a significant portion of [her] savings".

But why?

Sakinah described teaching itself as "just a fraction of the pie" of the workload teachers handle.

The rest of the pie consisted of a long list of administrative duties such as CCA management, excursion planning and execution, equipment maintenance, and meetings.

Sakinah shared that, over time, the administrative duties left her feeling burnt out.

Red tapes

Sakinah also shared her frustration with the red tapes that came with being a teacher in Singapore, including how she was allegedly forced to stay in school until school dismissal time despite her lessons already ending and her tasks being done.

She added that this was one of the factors that led her to leave.

She said she also hated being unable to pursue any side hustles.

Speaking to Mothership, she shared that she had been conducting Physical Training (PT) for years but faced limitations when she became a civil servant.

Breaking point

Sakinah told Mothership that her breaking point was when she couldn't unsee that she was "being a babysitter" to the kids on a swimming course during an after-school activity.

Sakinah shared in her post how it suddenly hit her that she was not going to spend the rest of her life doing that laborious task.

She added that she felt her brain and soul were meant for something bigger and that she was someone who hated "cruising" and just getting by.

She told Mothership: "My own thought: you can't deny that as a teacher, a bulk of the work you do is being a caretaker of the kids, while the parents go out to work, right?"

After quitting, Sakinah shared that she now does PT as her main gig and trains freelance coaches on a project basis to upskill.

She shared that she plans to continue teaching fitness as that is something she has loved all her life.

"I love movement, education of movement, and coaching coaches on the art of coaching - because it's more than just the physical aspect, but also knowing how to coach a person and meeting them where they're at so they can reach their goals."

Responding to hate comments by alleged teachers

In her caption, Sakinah pointed out that there were teachers commenting hate on her post, saying that the point of her post was to share her own experience.

She told Mothership that the hate she received from teachers over the post was mainly accusations that she wasn't resilient enough to stay in the job.

However, she said that resilience, to her, means admitting that the job wasn't for her, quitting, being in "debt" after wiping out most of her savings to make the bond payment, and starting from scratch.

She went through all these just so she could bet on herself, her growth and her own skill set.

To all teachers

In the post, Sakinah addressed those considering becoming PE teachers, noting definite upsides to the job.

These included having no marking, PE being the lesson most kids look forward to, and having the opportunity to show kids the beauty of play.

She also expressed her admiration for all teachers, clarifying that her sharing her experiences was not intended to devalue teachers or teaching.

"I, from the bottom of my heart, have so much respect and admiration to those who have stuck it through, and tolerated all the different shades from grey from the kids. I seriously don't know how you can do this, on repeat!

Without you, we would not exist, and we would not be who we are today, so thank you."