SINGAPORE: Teachers’ unions in Singapore refer 60 cases to the Ministry of Education (MOE) each year, with issues ranging from perceived unfairness in appraisal to posting matters.
In a written response to a parliamentary question from Nominated Member of Parliament Abdul Samad Abdul Wahab, MOE said on Monday (Oct 3): “Some are related to workplace grievances such as perceived unfairness in appraisal or workplace relations, whereas others may involve requests such as those related to posting or leave matters.
“Besides these individual cases, unions also surface enquiries from members, to seek clarification on general HR policies.”
The Education Ministry added that it regularly engages the four teachers’ unions affiliated with the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) – the Singapore Teachers’ Union, the Singapore Chinese Teachers’ Union, the Singapore Malay Teachers’ Union and the Singapore Tamil Teachers’ Union.
This allows for the mutual sharing of staff-related issues and for unions to “provide ground sensing and feedback on staff policies” to MOE.
“MOE follows up on all cases referred from the unions, and then closes the loop with the individual member as well as the union,” said MOE in its response.
At the September sitting of Parliament, Mr Abdul Samad, who is the vice-president of NTUC, had said in an adjournment motion that teachers’ unions receive more than 1,000 cases of grievances each year.
These cases range from managing students’ behaviour, abuse from parents, and issues relating to mental health or career progression.