Teacher education in Singapore: What motivates students to choose teaching as a career?

Abstract

The Singapore government is acutely aware that the future of Singapore very much depends on her human resource. However much Singapore has achieved in the area of education thus far, particularly through its school system, the need for teachers in sufficient quantity and quality remains a perennial problem. A small population base, wide employment opportunities in the private sector in a booming economy, the lack of man-power in many areas all contribute to making teaching as one of the job options for school leavers not necessarily a preferred one. Of late, the Ministry of Education has been aggressively taking steps to elevate the status of teaching through many measures. It is worth finding out what now attracts entrants into the teaching profession. This paper discusses the motives of new entrants to the National Institute of Education's initial teacher training programmes. A survey was carried out to find out the motives of students as to why they choose to become teachers. The results of this study are compared with those from similar studies carried out locally and in other countries. The implications of the findings to attract young people to the teaching profession are discussed.