JOIN USIndian teachers are most sought after in Singapore schools with increasing number of teachers being recruited to teach not only Indian languages but also other subjects.
Over 70 teachers from India have been hired in the past four years and another 10 teachers from the country are set to teach in the city schools later this year as the Education Ministry seeks out international educationists to boost its teaching force, The Straits Times reported today.
"It's logical to hire from India because they are culturally much closer to us," Singapore's Academy of Principals dean Belinda Charles was quoted as saying by the daily.
Kolkata-based 'Academy for Professional Excellence', a recruitment agency for Singapore's Education Ministry since 2006, had recruited eight teachers in 2007 and the number increased to 30 in 2009 and 25 last year. Most of the teachers were from Kolkata.
The paper, citing the Education Ministry, said the numbers of international teachers still remain small, under 2 per cent or less than 620 of the 31,000-strong teaching force in Singapore.
The Ministry said it has been looking for teachers overseas for 20 years to "inject diversity and perspective" into the education system here.
Singapore is facing shortage of teachers, particularly of economics as local teachers specialising in the subject left for lucrative jobs in the commercial sector during the economic boom four years ago.