Teachers from India join S'pore schools

[sall]

vlim:

hope I don't offend anyone...I have a few workers from India..pretty hard to 'catch' what are they talking when they speak to me in 'English'...

Agree wholeheartedly. I have neighbours who come from India, very very difficult to understand their English.

[pinky]

way back in 2002, my ex-co bought a new accounting software package which came with free training for 5 sessions. The trainer was an Indian lady who though was very familiar with the running of the program but spoke in so thick accent we had to guess what she was saying.

She was so impatient having to repeat again so I told her to write down the important points and we would go through ourselves and tried them out.
After the 5 FOC sessions, we managed to scrape through the basic procedure with the written notes but when it came to phone assistance, it was worst trying to figure out what she was saying over the phone.
I highlighted the problem to my boss and eventually, we changed the vendor to save our hearing and possible high blood pressure.

I therefore can relate to the poor students who are trying so hard to catch the ball :stupid: .

[Funz]

To be fair, every nationality or race have their pros and cons and there are always the good ones and not so good ones.


I’ve had many horrible experiences with a certain nationality and ethnic grp that I was on the verge of being a bigamist but to look at it rationally, I’ve also encountered many who are really good.

2 of my best staff are from India. 1 on S Pass, another a rather newly minted Singaporean. Their accents are not that difficult to understand and in the short few years that they are here, they are already speaking our lingo and even a smattering of Mandarin and Malay.

My friends and I were kidding that we are being invaded by 摇头族 but fact is, if there are enough Singaporeans willing to take up these jobs within reasonable demands and have the attitude to match, who would want to hire foreigners.

That said, I would still prefer to my kids’ teachers to be locals.

[sleepy]

SAHM_TAN:

Sometimes I feel like I'm the foreigner in another country.

Me too :roll:

[hquek]

Tie in this topic with this thread... http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum/viewtopic.php?p=394045#394045


I'm starting to have bad vibes about the teachers my kids may be meeting in future. Siao liao...

[pinky]

LKVM:

pinky:

way back in 2002, my ex-co bought a new accounting software package which came with free training for 5 sessions. The trainer was an Indian lady who though was very familiar with the running of the program but spoke in so thick accent we had to guess what she was saying.

She was so impatient having to repeat again so I told her to write down the important points and we would go through ourselves and tried them out.
After the 5 FOC sessions, we managed to scrape through the basic procedure with the written notes but when it came to phone assistance, it was worst trying to figure out what she was saying over the phone.
I highlighted the problem to my boss and eventually, we changed the vendor to save our hearing and possible high blood pressure.

I therefore can relate to the poor students who are trying so hard to catch the ball :stupid: .

So that means even if they are trained they wont be able to perform same as our current teachers

local teachers are familiar with our culture, our exam structure, the way students study etc. These are important experiences which the foreign teachers have to learn and adapt themselves to. They have to integrate to our system and not the other way round.

[Laughing]

It took my co-worker from India to speak \"understandable\" English only 1 year plus. Another colleague of mine who just arrived here about 6 months ago still speak very strong Indian essence and it really need a lots of energy to try to decode what they are saying...


But I think this is unavoidable as more Indian friends are working around us and we do need to be highly adaptable la. :lol:

[Daddy D]

Funz:

That said, I would still prefer to my kids' teachers to be locals.

:celebrate: :celebrate: :celebrate:
Some things cannot be outsourced...

[vlim]

Laughing:

It took my co-worker from India to speak \"understandable\" English only 1 year plus. Another colleague of mine who just arrived here about 6 months ago still speak very strong Indian essence and it really need a lots of energy to try to decode what they are saying...


But I think this is unavoidable as more Indian friends are working around us and we do need to be highly adaptable la. :lol:

hahaaa...'decode'..ya that is the right word to use....maybe someone should come out with a decode handbook or machine

[ANobleNerd]

Wow. More foreign \"talents\".


I have friends who want to join the teaching force, but are denied simply because their Australian degrees are 'not recognised', but now Indian nationals are recruited to teach.

Is there really a dearth of teachers in Singapore? If so, what is MOE doing about it apart from hiring overseas? Could they not look into teacher welfare and workload and expectations? Could they not have a frank and open relook at our system here that tax both teachers and pupils?

Could it be that teachers are leaving because it makes no sense for a 12-hour workday? Or does MOE think that hiring Indian nationals mean that if they are here sans family, they can put in that 12-hour day with no issue to work-life balance?

If MOE source teachers from more progressive, collaborative-minded education systems/countries, I would have not even commented on this thread. The fact that this teacher comes from a Chalk-and-Talk classroom is just another reason for me to wonder what on earth MOE is thinking. :shock: