Distribution of Performance Grades Given to Teachers Annually

Mr David Hoe asked the Minister for Education (a) whether schools are guided that about 5% to 7% of teachers shall receive C-, D and E performance grades annually; (b) what criteria and approvals govern deviations from the (i) A and B and (ii) C-, D and E distributions, and how often schools deviate from the distribution; and (c) whether any internal C- versus D trade-offs create incentives to award D grades.

Mr Desmond Lee: The Ministry of Education (MOE), like the rest of the Civil Service, adopts a system of relative performance ranking for all staff, including teachers. Their performance grade for the year will be based on how they have performed in relation to their peers in the same substantive grade.

Schools are given guidelines to assess if the bottom 5% of the ranking pool should be assigned C-, D and E grades. These are broad guidelines and deviation is allowed, taking into consideration the school's context and specific circumstances of teachers.

Performance grades of teachers are assigned by a ranking panel after careful consideration of each teacher's performance. D grades are only given to officers with poor performance compared to others within the same substantive grade and not to compensate when the C- performance guidelines are not met. Most schools are able to abide by the performance grade guidelines with a few schools deviating based on strong justifications.