Facebook user Dzar Ismail said that his friend, a teacher, had mixed feelings about his student from the Foundation class doing well enough to go to the Express stream in secondary school. Most students who take subjects at the foundation level in upper primary level usually end up in the normal-technical stream in secondary school.

The student’s parents went up to the teacher to thank him for helping their child on to the achievement, but that same parents had earlier complained about the teacher’s unconventional teaching methods to the school – for which he got a warning letter from the management.

The teacher had mixed feeling because although he was happy that his student has done well, his bonus and performance grade.

Dzar lamented that this is the reason why schools lost many good teachers.

If you can’t read what Dzar posted, this is what he said.


My friend, a teacher had mixed feelings about the PSLE results today. A Foundation student he taught, managed to get into the Express stream. His parents beamed with pride, came up to my friend and cried. They apologized profusely. Why?

Sometime early this year, they lodged a complaint to the school principal because they felt that my friend’s teaching skills were not conventional. My friend got a warning letter. An unnecessary warning letter.

Visibly upset with what he felt was an unfair verdict, he could have toned down. But, he soldiered on because the student’s parents did not proactively help their child at home with his studies. The results were eminent early this morning.

So when they came to apologize, and thank my friend, it was too late. Damage was done. The warning letter will affect his grade and his bonus.

Ladies and gentlemen. This is why we lose quality individuals in the teaching fraternity. The system is quick to penalise our teachers just to appease their stakeholders.

Not all teachers work for the money. Many I know do it because they want to unleash every child’s potential, regardless of the family social climate they come from.

I’ve seen many posts thanking parents. Here’s one to all the teachers for a job well done.