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May 17, 2010
Penalised for trying to be a good mum and teacher
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I empathise with Ms Aishah Quek's frustrations over her teacher husband's life ('Work-life balance? Here's one day in the life of a teacher'; last Saturday).
My daughter, a junior college teacher for more than five years, typically works for 80 to 90 hours a week. Weekends are often reserved for marking and events related to co-curricular activity, and the so-called school holidays are filled with remedials, meetings, courses and camps.
Things got worse when she had her first child. Choosing to breastfeed for six months, she decided to take two months of no-pay leave, in addition to the four months of paid maternity leave. But she often had to return to school during this time to perform ad hoc duties assigned to her.
Upon returning to school full time, she fought a losing battle with the school administration to provide her and other mothers-to-be with a place for expressing breastmilk. It was suggested to her that she should use either the storeroom or the toilet. In the end, other teachers who took pity on her plight set up a makeshift corner in the staff room, with a shower curtain for privacy. More than five new mothers now use this corner.
My daughter was also given far more responsibilities than the average teacher when she returned to full-time teaching, so much so that it seemed like she was to complete one year's worth of work in the remaining six months.
But when performance bonuses were given out, she was not only given a pro-rated bonus (which I understand), but also a lower performance grading.
While I am very grateful for the increased maternity benefits a young family now receives, I would like to highlight that there seems to be a contradiction when Singaporeans are encouraged to have more babies, but mothers are penalised when trying to concurrently be both good mums and good workers.
She is now expecting her second child and I won't be surprised if she leaves the teaching service.
Lim Kim Siang
Penalised for trying to be a good mum and teacher
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I empathise with Ms Aishah Quek's frustrations over her teacher husband's life ('Work-life balance? Here's one day in the life of a teacher'; last Saturday).
My daughter, a junior college teacher for more than five years, typically works for 80 to 90 hours a week. Weekends are often reserved for marking and events related to co-curricular activity, and the so-called school holidays are filled with remedials, meetings, courses and camps.
Things got worse when she had her first child. Choosing to breastfeed for six months, she decided to take two months of no-pay leave, in addition to the four months of paid maternity leave. But she often had to return to school during this time to perform ad hoc duties assigned to her.
Upon returning to school full time, she fought a losing battle with the school administration to provide her and other mothers-to-be with a place for expressing breastmilk. It was suggested to her that she should use either the storeroom or the toilet. In the end, other teachers who took pity on her plight set up a makeshift corner in the staff room, with a shower curtain for privacy. More than five new mothers now use this corner.
My daughter was also given far more responsibilities than the average teacher when she returned to full-time teaching, so much so that it seemed like she was to complete one year's worth of work in the remaining six months.
But when performance bonuses were given out, she was not only given a pro-rated bonus (which I understand), but also a lower performance grading.
While I am very grateful for the increased maternity benefits a young family now receives, I would like to highlight that there seems to be a contradiction when Singaporeans are encouraged to have more babies, but mothers are penalised when trying to concurrently be both good mums and good workers.
She is now expecting her second child and I won't be surprised if she leaves the teaching service.
Lim Kim Siang