Workers’ Party Member of Parliament He Ting Ru (Sengkang GRC) underlined the importance of caring for the mental health of teachers in an Aug 20 Facebook post.
Ms He noted that while a recently announced pay increase for teachers is “welcome” news, there are ways to “better support our teachers in the crucial work they do, nurturing our next generation.”
She posted a screenshot from an Aug 17 article in Today where teachers were quoted as saying that the increase in pay does not solve their “deeply rooted” issues of high stress levels and workload issues.
Some teachers “some even wonder about whether they will be able to keep pace with inflation and the scheduled increase in GST,” Ms He added.
The Sengkang MP, a mother of three young children, noted that the Covid pandemic showed parents, many of whom had to supervise home-based learning, how challenging it is to be a teacher and that she is thankful for the “committed teachers who place such heavy emphasis, and go over and beyond to ensure my children’s happiness, development, and well-being.”
“We owe it to our teachers to protect their mental health, while they in turn pour in much invisible labour to look after and impart precious knowledge and skills to our children.”
This is why, she added, that these types of problems must continue to be discussed, as well as other issues including administrative workload.
In September of last year, Ms He asked the Minister for Education if schools follow and apply the tripartite advisory on mental well-being in the workplace for their staff, whether teachers and other staff in schools have access to free or subsidised mental health consultations and treatment if teachers and other school staff have access to free or subsidised mental health consultations and treatment and whether or not the MOE can commit to regularly publish more details of such risk assessments.
And last month, when Education Minister Chan Chun Sing said that the salaries of teachers and other school staff were under review, Ms He said that factors including working hours and administrative duties, which affect the turnover rates of teachers, should also be reviewed.
In response to Ms He’s parliamentary question last September, Mr Chan said that the “well-being of our school staff has always been of paramount importance.”
He added that counselling services are available for school staff when needed, and that school staff are eligible for subsidised medical treatment, including mental health consultations and treatment, because these are part of the Civil Service medical benefits scheme.
/TISG
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