Despite spending fewer hours teaching and marking, Singapore teachers are spending more time on non-teaching tasks, according to the Teaching and Learning International Survey (Talis).
While Singapore teachers spend 17.7 hours a week on teaching, which is less than the OECD average of 22.7 hours, and their weekly marking time has reduced to 6.4 hours (from 7.5 hours in 2018), and the time they are spending on non-teaching tasks is taking them up to the average working hours of 47.3 per week, compared to the OECD average of 41 hours per week. Teachers in Singapore are spending 8.2 hours on administrative work and 8.2 hours on lesson preparation, compared to 3.8 hours and 7.3 hours on these tasks in 2018.
Workload was recognised as their main source of stress – and the responsibility for student achievement was another stress factor. Stress is experienced ‘a lot’ by a OECD average of 19% of teachers; in Singapore, this is 27% and is up 4%t from 2018.
Other key statistics about Singapore teachers
- 40% of teachers under 30 intended to leave teaching within the next 5 years (double the OECD average of 20%)
- 29% reported planning to leave teaching – popular reasons cited were family matters (71%), further education (50%) and changing to a non-teaching position in the education sector (46%)
- 55% said they “agree” or “strongly agree” to being ‘satisfied’ with their salaries
- 71% felt teachers are valued in society (compared to the OECD average of 22%)
- 57% of teachers felt their views are valued by policymakers (higher than the OECD average of 16%)
- 3 in 4 teachers use AI to teach or facilitate learning (compared to the global average of 36%)
Reference
- Global survey finds Singapore teachers spend less time teaching and marking, but work longer hours (Accessed: 8th October 2025)
