S’PORE TEACHERS THE HIGHEST PAID IN THE WORLD?

SINGAPORE - Singaporean teachers are the highest paid among 21 countries according to a study, earning an average annual salary of US$45,755, ahead of the United States' US$44,917 and South Korea's US$43,874.

But respondents in Singapore felt that local teachers were overpaid by about $5,000 annually - almost 14 per cent higher than what they perceived to be fair.

This was in contrast to most of the other countries surveyed for the Varkey GEMS Foundation 2013 Global Teacher Status Index, in which they assessed actual wages to be below perceived fair wages.

In fact, respondents from 95 per cent of the surveyed countries thought teachers were earning less than what they ought to.

According to the findings, teachers in the United States are paid considerably more than people estimate. They are also paid more than people think of as a fair amount. The only other countries polled that think that teachers are paid more than they deserve in the survey are Japan, France, Singapore, South Korea, China and Egypt.

In the Teacher Status Index - which measures cultural, political and socio- economic factors, such as general attitudes towards the education system.

• The perception of teachers in each country; Singapore was ranked seventh, surpassing the US (No 9), the United Kingdom (No 10) and Finland (No 13).
• China topped the rankings, followed by Greece, Turkey and then South Korea. Singapore came in third with regard to confidence and trust in the national education system. Finland took top position, followed by Switzerland.

Source: Agencies