Having been a former teacher, I need to state that our teachers, if they really are doing their jobs, are over-stretched. Let's not talk about the content and happy "an fen shou ji" types who sit around waiting for salaries to come in every month. Typically, a teacher would have spent at least 40 hours in teaching responsibilities, plus about 5 hours of CCA, CIP sessions, and that's not counting the hours they spend after work to prepare lessons, mark papers etc.
To be fair, expectations on teachers are very different. Back in my primary school, I remember having teachers who come into class with cups of coffee, set the assignment in class like Chinese composition, then read newspapers at their desk. And then once the bell rings at 1, they're off.
So, that having said, if you wanna add the loads of conducting lifeskills etc, they're gonna start pointing fingers and ask: "Which subject teachers should do it?". An odd lot, lah, teachers. They're the flatliners: ultra-stability in their lifestyles please- raise one notch and they go gaga and start complaining about stress, take MCs etc.
That's why I left education service-- I can't stand a ground-hog day sort of lifestyle where my weeks are cast on a timetable.
But don't get me wrong, I'm not slamming teachers here. Just wanna say that the average teacher is already overloaded, and maybe parents should change their mindsets about the jobscopes and responsibilities of teachers. In short, the modern day teacher has become:
- Guru
- Content specialist
- Surrogate parent
- Surrogate grandparent
- Nursemaid
- Rubbish Picker/Cleaner
- Entertainer/Clown
... you know what I'm sayin'? 
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