News

Teachers gain by learning soft skills from non-teaching duties

I read with concern several calls to remove non-teaching duties so that full-time teachers can focus on nurturing their students academically (

I read with concern several calls to remove non-teaching duties so that full-time teachers can focus on nurturing their students academically ( , Sept 15; and , Sept 24). These adjunct duties, such as administrative tasks, committee development projects and students' co-curricular activity involvements, help in the professional development of a teacher into a well-rounded individual. These are transferable soft skills that are crucial in determining one's employability in the corporate world. A teacher may be capable of motivating students under his charge to score As in all subjects, but a totally different set of skills is needed to motivate a team of adults to attain a corporation's key performance indicators. It is my plea to the public not to challenge the good intentions of the Ministry of Education in looking after the welfare and professional development of its teaching staff.