Happy Teachers Day

Yesterday I attended my school's SAC meeting and DND.

Met up with a few old teachers who taught or interacted with me some 25yrs ago (that's right!). Among them, my scout teacher Mr Yap who walks with a limp, Mrs John Tan my music teacher, Mrs Anne Chan who never taught me but I knew her somehow, and Mrs Wong, my AVA teacher.

I find it simply amazing these teachers find the motivation to teach in my old school, for so long a time, with little recognition in terms of stellar results while taking in the bullshit from a large portion of children from the lower income families. It can be a very thankless job. Broken homes, parents in jail or on drugs, running away from loan sharks, borderline autism and outright delinquency are common issues these teachers face every day.

I guess that is exactly where the difference in being a teacher and a tutor lies. The tutor tends to be motivated by money (which may not be a bad thing) but the teacher is motivated by the process of actually shaping a child's upbringing and education. A higher order, definitely. And even more so when serving in an academically-poor school (but still a very good school IMHO!).

I stood in admiration yesterday looking at the 50+ dedicated teachers of my old primary school. A mix of young and old, working harmoniously with each other. An even bigger plus was when I raised the point about teachers quitting the school given how demoralizing it could be dealing with such students and the stress it entails. Our school's attrition rate is actually lower than the national average and currently hovering around only 1 resignation a year. Impressive.

Today we celebrate teachers day, not only for the teachers who have taught us, but also the teachers teaching all around the world. Even more so, we celebrate the bond of sharing and mentoring from the people in our lives. Everyone is a teacher in some way or other.

Did I mention all teachers in Singapore get an 8% pay rise this year? Whoot!