Singapore teachers work long hours but teach less: report

The survey also found that administrative workload stress skewed towards newer teachers in Singapore.

Singapore’s lower-secondary teachers were amongst those who worked the longest weekly hours internationally and devoted less than one-third of that time to classroom teaching, according to the OECD’s latest Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS).

The report noted teachers worked an average of about 47 hours a week and spent less time on teaching and marking than peers, even as overall hours remained high.

Within that total workload, classroom instruction accounted for under one-third of working time in Singapore, compared with roughly 43% on average across participating systems.

The report added that teachers spent less time on marking than in 2018, about an hour less per week, even as overall working hours stayed elevated.

The survey also found that administrative workload stress skewed towards newer teachers in Singapore, unlike in many systems where experienced teachers reported more stress.

On technology, around three in four teachers said they used AI in their teaching over the past year, one of the highest rates globally and more than double the international average.

The report also noted the Ministry of Education’s rollout of AI-enabled tools such as the Adaptive Learning System and automated feedback assistants.

In the broader context, TALIS benchmarked teachers’ hours against similarly qualified workers and found that only in Japan and Singapore did teachers report more weekly hours than counterparts in other professions.

The OECD said TALIS 2024 covered 55 education systems and examined teachers’ working conditions, classroom practices and technology use. Singapore appeared near the top end for weekly working hours in cross-country charts included in the core report.