Most Singaporeans would be aware that being a teacher is no walk in the park. But what many might not know is the remuneration educators get for their troubles.
Recently, a former Ministry of Education (MOE) scholar revealed that he last drew slightly more than S$5,000 as a teacher in a secondary school.
The revelation has since divided netizens, who have differing opinions on whether the pay makes the teaching responsibilities ‘worth it’.
TikTok content creator Mak recently shared his last-drawn salary as an MOE teacher, in response to comments from a previous video that asserted that MOE teachers are paid well.
@g.y.mak Replying to @Laikuasimi Is MOE teacher salary that high that I can buy 9 properties? I used to be a teacher back in the days and many of you were wondering if the pay was high so here’s my answer 🆙 #propertyinvesting #fyp #moeteachers #propertyinvestment ♬ original sound – Mak
Back in April, Mak posted a video showcasing the nine properties that he owned as a 33-year-old, three years after he left the teaching profession. The video went relatively viral with more than 200,000 views at the time of writing.
In his latest post, Mak revealed that he was a MOE teaching scholar but had left the industry in 2020.
He then showed a screenshot of what he claimed was his last-drawn payslip as a secondary school teacher.
The payslip showed that Mak was drawing a gross salary of S$5,133 before CPF deductions. His take-home pay was about S$4,093, after accounting for CPF deductions and other fund contributions.
Even though Mak stated in the video that teaching is a “very fulfilling job”, that disclaimer did little to quell the heated discussion that later took place in the comments.
One user thought that S$5,000 is a “crazily low” pay, especially given the workload that teachers have to deal with.
On the other hand, others thought that S$5,000 is a relatively high salary.
Some users also made an interesting comparison between the salaries of teachers and that of preschool educators, claiming that the former’s pay is twice the latter’s.
While many netizens seemed to be rather opinionated, it’s fair to say that only those who’ve been teachers themselves would be able to make a fair assessment of whether the pay’s ‘worth it’ or not.
That said, would a S$5,000 salary be enough to attract you to the teaching profession? Share your thoughts with us in the comments.
Have news you must share? Get in touch with us via email at news@mustsharenews.com.
Featured image adapted from @g.y.mak on TikTok.
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