TEACHERS at Riverside Secondary have to get permission from the principal to stay in school past 7pm or return on Saturdays to work. Most times, approval is not given.
Mrs Sng Siew Hong, who oversees the school in Woodlands, says she wants to ensure her staff do not overwork themselves.
'My teachers have multiple hats to wear and they have a very challenging job. If there is no work-life harmony, they may get burnt out at the expense of the students,' she said.
Riverside Secondary was one of four schools which won the Manpower Ministry's Work-Life Achiever Award last August.
The other three schools are Tampines Primary, Fernvale Primary and Republic Polytechnic. Riverside and Tampines shared their success strategies with 36 other schools last Friday, describing some measures they have put in place.
In all, 40 companies were honoured with the award, which aims to recognise employers for strategies they have put in place to ensure work-life balance.
Mrs Sng said she leads by example, making it a point to leave the school by 5pm every day.
'There may be a lot of things not done but it doesn't matter. I need the rest,' she said.
Tampines Primary, on the other hand, made sure it hired as many adjunct teachers as it was allowed, so that it could lighten its teachers' workloads.
The school management ensures teachers get a protected holiday time of at least two weeks in June and four weeks in December.
Its principal, Mrs Wong Bin Eng, who also gives each employee a birthday present, said her top priority is to ensure a happy environment for her teachers.
The school has developed a framework to assess and review well-being, based on a staff needs survey it conducted to find out what would make teachers happier.
'If teachers are not happy and motivated, it would be hard to get them to work. And if they went into a classroom with a long face, the children would be affected as well,' said Mrs Wong.
