Non-graduates Joining General Education Officers Scheme

Mr Yee Jenn Jong asked the Minister for Education how many new non-graduates join the Ministry as General Education Officers each year from 2012 to 2014 and what percentage do these new teachers form as a percentage of all new teachers hired in those years.

The Minister of State for Education (Ms Sim Ann) (for the Minister for Education): Mdm Speaker, from 2012 to 2014, we have recruited a total of 663 non-graduates for the teaching service and they comprised 17% of newly recruited teachers over the past three years.

Mr Yee Jenn Jong (Non-Constituency Member): Thank you, Madam. I would like to thank the Minister of State for the reply. I would like to ask regarding the 17% figure, are they at the General Education Officer level or it includes other forms of teachers that are under some kind of supplementary schemes? And I would also like to ask, since MOE started drastically reducing the number of new teachers hired last year, does it mean that it will be more challenging for non-graduates to become General Education Officers moving forward?

Ms Sim Ann: Mdm Speaker, may I ask the Member to clarify his first question? What does he mean by "supplementary schemes"?

Mr Yee Jenn Jong: I understand that there are various teaching schemes, so this 17%, can I just clarify is specifically for General Education Officers?

Ms Sim Ann: We are talking about Education Officers. That is the figure that has been given. In terms of prospects for non-graduates who wish to enter the teaching service, I would like to highlight that when the Ministry of Education (MOE) recruits teachers, two factors are very important to us. First, would be mastery of academic content and the second one would be whether the person has the passion and the correct disposition to teach. Both factors are important. We will continue to focus on hiring graduates. We will also continue to bring in strong non-graduate recruits whom we believe will make good teachers.