Mr Zainal Sapari asked the Minister for Education if he will explain the basis for the low gross salary of $864 to $1,063 offered for the post of school attendant as advertised in The Straits Times on 21 April 2012.

Mr Heng Swee Keat: School attendants are employed on the Operations Support Scheme (OSS), a generic Civil Service scheme of employment, and thus their salaries come under the purview of the Public Service Division. The salary scale of a school attendant is based on what an employee of similar educational qualifications and experience in the private sector is paid. As part of its regular reviews, the Public Service Division recently increased the monthly salaries of OSOs by approximately 5% across the board.

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The salaries stated in the advertisement reflect the range of starting salaries for school attendants. An officer can start out at a salary higher than $864, depending on the extent of relevant work experience he had. The officer's salary would also rise over time as he gets annual increments based on his performance or when he gets promoted.

We recognise that training improves the employability and earnings of public officers, and have put in place schemes to encourage training. For example, MOE offers financial assistance in the form of training sponsorships and the reimbursement of course fees to enable our school attendants to acquire skills. Supervisors are also regularly reminded to encourage and assist their office attendants to identify and pick up relevant skills to upgrade and prepare themselves for higher job responsibilities.

In addition, the Civil Service has a Training Incentive Scheme to encourage all officers to upgrade themselves. Officers may receive cash incentives for completing specific work-related National-level Training Programmes.

Written Answers to Questions

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