Up for a Sabbatical?
Circular No. C19-23435-GH1
Classification: Secret
RE: Sabbatical for Teachers with 12 years of Service
As per the recent policy changes effected as a result of the Minister’s directive that more should be done to keep teachers in the Service, the following announcements were made in The Press (5 Sep 2006) following the earlier pronouncements made in The Speech (dated 1 Sep 2006):
Scenario 1: Mr Tan Gu Gu is a teacher who thinks that he has 12 years of Service. He applies for the Sabbatical.
Mr TGG. : I started teaching in 1994. That should mean that I have 12 years service. I’d like to apply for the Sabbatical.
School Authority: Well, let me first check your records. It says here that you took 4 days no-pay leave in 1995.
Mr TGG.: Well, that was when I got married and before the Ministry started the compassionate leave scheme ...
School Authority: And it says here that you took two-weeks no pay leave in 2000 ...
Mr TGG.: ... but that was to extend my stay in the US because the exchange program that the Ministry sent me on lasted longer than the June Holidays ...
School Authority: Sorry, Mr. Tan. You do not have 12 years of Service. No Sabbatical.
Scenario 2: Of course, not every case is as easily handled as Mr Tan's. More complex cases can arise. For example, Ms Chin Bo Liaw is a teacher who has more than 12 years of Service. She qualifies for the Sabbatical but wants to “do her own thing”.
Ms CBL: As I understand the circular and the term "sabbatical", I should be allowed to take ten weeks paid leave, no questions asked. How I spend those 10 weeks is up to me.
School Authority: Ah, yes, in theory. But I need you to think about how you can Value Add during those ten weeks. Would you like to do a job attachment with a leading firm in one of our nation’s new high-tech industries so that when you come back you can share your experiences with your students during School Assembly? Or would you like to teach in another school during those ten weeks, learn some Best Practices and come back and share with the staff during Contact Time?
Ms CBL: I just want to stay at home and look after my plants.
School Authority: Ah, yes, that sounds like a good plan but don’t you want to consider how the Sabbatical might be part of your Upgrading Portfolio? When the Staff Assessment and Ranking Exercise comes around, it would be nicer for me to say to the District Superintendent that, “Yes, Ms Chin went on an attachment with a firm. Actually, come to think if it, he called me yesterday and said that one of our cluster schools have a shortage of Maths teachers and that we can post you there for your Sabbatical, to cover the shortage for a few weeks ....”
Ms CBL: I'd rather NOT go then!
School Authority: Ok, your choice. But we offered you a chance, ah.
Scenario 3: Mr Wah Bo Eng is a Head of Department who has more than 12 years of teaching experience. He does not want to go on the Sabbatical.
Mr Wah: I’m far too busy next semester. I’m teaching three O level classes, I have to mentor the newly posted teachers and I have to oversee the transition to the Integrated Programme that the school is moving towards. How can I go on Sabbatical?
School Authority: Yes, yes. But you’re the only teacher who has 12 years of experience in our school. Actually Mrs Wee would have been another one but she just quit last year. So you’re our only representative.
Mr Wah: I thought that it was a voluntary programme that was meant to encourage teachers to stay in the Service. I’m not leaving the Service anytime soon.
School Authority: Yes, yes. But I heard that the other Ps of our cluster schools talking at the last meeting and they all have people applying for the Sabbatical programme. I tell you what. I put you on the Sabbatical programme but you just continue your work as per normal, okay? Like when we send people on course but ask them to come back after the course in the evenings to catch up on work. Then, our school also can say that we have someone on Sabbatical.
Mr Wah: But when I go Sabbatical I want to do something meaningful ...
School Authority: Are you saying that what you're doing now is not meaningful?
The above listed aforementioned scenarios are by no means exhaustive. Indeed, they are meant to serve as guidelines rather than strict procedures. However, in view of the numerous concerns that School Authorities have expressed about the issue and the rapidly changing Educational Landscape that is a result of these fine-tunings of policy, we have started the Going On Sabbatical – School Issues Portal (GOSSIP), which is meant as an on-going forum for School Authorities to share experiences and tactics they use to overcome difficult cases. The use of GOSSIP is explained in circular C19-211111-GH23 (dated 7 Sep 2006).
Another circular, governing the implementation of the $400 or $700 stipend will be released shortly. Please make sure that you shred this circular after you have read it. The last thing we want is for it to fall into less enlightened hands and start circulating on the Internet!
Regards,
First Permanent Assistant to 2nd Deputy Secretary to the Minister
Classification: Secret
RE: Sabbatical for Teachers with 12 years of Service
As per the recent policy changes effected as a result of the Minister’s directive that more should be done to keep teachers in the Service, the following announcements were made in The Press (5 Sep 2006) following the earlier pronouncements made in The Speech (dated 1 Sep 2006):
But from next year, some 8,000 teachers with at least 12 years of service can take a full term off at full pay to study, do a work attachment or research.This circular (No. C19-23435-GH1 dated 5 Sep 2006) is released to offer guidelines for the implementation of the above policy changes. It is meant to give School Authorities a sense of the how the policy changes that govern the Sabbatical for Teachers with 12 years of Service should be interpreted. As we are all busy members of The Service and are far too pre-occupied with making sure that teachers are making sure that students are making sure that everything is well and good, the Ministry as developed the following scenarios that are meant to guide the School Authorities in implementing the aforesaid earlier mentioned policy.
Scenario 1: Mr Tan Gu Gu is a teacher who thinks that he has 12 years of Service. He applies for the Sabbatical.
Mr TGG. : I started teaching in 1994. That should mean that I have 12 years service. I’d like to apply for the Sabbatical.
School Authority: Well, let me first check your records. It says here that you took 4 days no-pay leave in 1995.
Mr TGG.: Well, that was when I got married and before the Ministry started the compassionate leave scheme ...
School Authority: And it says here that you took two-weeks no pay leave in 2000 ...
Mr TGG.: ... but that was to extend my stay in the US because the exchange program that the Ministry sent me on lasted longer than the June Holidays ...
School Authority: Sorry, Mr. Tan. You do not have 12 years of Service. No Sabbatical.
Scenario 2: Of course, not every case is as easily handled as Mr Tan's. More complex cases can arise. For example, Ms Chin Bo Liaw is a teacher who has more than 12 years of Service. She qualifies for the Sabbatical but wants to “do her own thing”.
Ms CBL: As I understand the circular and the term "sabbatical", I should be allowed to take ten weeks paid leave, no questions asked. How I spend those 10 weeks is up to me.
School Authority: Ah, yes, in theory. But I need you to think about how you can Value Add during those ten weeks. Would you like to do a job attachment with a leading firm in one of our nation’s new high-tech industries so that when you come back you can share your experiences with your students during School Assembly? Or would you like to teach in another school during those ten weeks, learn some Best Practices and come back and share with the staff during Contact Time?
Ms CBL: I just want to stay at home and look after my plants.
School Authority: Ah, yes, that sounds like a good plan but don’t you want to consider how the Sabbatical might be part of your Upgrading Portfolio? When the Staff Assessment and Ranking Exercise comes around, it would be nicer for me to say to the District Superintendent that, “Yes, Ms Chin went on an attachment with a firm. Actually, come to think if it, he called me yesterday and said that one of our cluster schools have a shortage of Maths teachers and that we can post you there for your Sabbatical, to cover the shortage for a few weeks ....”
Ms CBL: I'd rather NOT go then!
School Authority: Ok, your choice. But we offered you a chance, ah.
Scenario 3: Mr Wah Bo Eng is a Head of Department who has more than 12 years of teaching experience. He does not want to go on the Sabbatical.
Mr Wah: I’m far too busy next semester. I’m teaching three O level classes, I have to mentor the newly posted teachers and I have to oversee the transition to the Integrated Programme that the school is moving towards. How can I go on Sabbatical?
School Authority: Yes, yes. But you’re the only teacher who has 12 years of experience in our school. Actually Mrs Wee would have been another one but she just quit last year. So you’re our only representative.
Mr Wah: I thought that it was a voluntary programme that was meant to encourage teachers to stay in the Service. I’m not leaving the Service anytime soon.
School Authority: Yes, yes. But I heard that the other Ps of our cluster schools talking at the last meeting and they all have people applying for the Sabbatical programme. I tell you what. I put you on the Sabbatical programme but you just continue your work as per normal, okay? Like when we send people on course but ask them to come back after the course in the evenings to catch up on work. Then, our school also can say that we have someone on Sabbatical.
Mr Wah: But when I go Sabbatical I want to do something meaningful ...
School Authority: Are you saying that what you're doing now is not meaningful?
The above listed aforementioned scenarios are by no means exhaustive. Indeed, they are meant to serve as guidelines rather than strict procedures. However, in view of the numerous concerns that School Authorities have expressed about the issue and the rapidly changing Educational Landscape that is a result of these fine-tunings of policy, we have started the Going On Sabbatical – School Issues Portal (GOSSIP), which is meant as an on-going forum for School Authorities to share experiences and tactics they use to overcome difficult cases. The use of GOSSIP is explained in circular C19-211111-GH23 (dated 7 Sep 2006).
Another circular, governing the implementation of the $400 or $700 stipend will be released shortly. Please make sure that you shred this circular after you have read it. The last thing we want is for it to fall into less enlightened hands and start circulating on the Internet!
Regards,
First Permanent Assistant to 2nd Deputy Secretary to the Minister
posted by gary at 4:52 AM
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