Eligibility Criteria and Utilisations Rates of Extended Developmental Leave Schemes for Teachers over Past Three Years

15 Mr David Hoe asked the Minister for Education in respect of the Ministry's indication in 2021 that it was considering sabbaticals for teachers (a) whether there are any schemes for in-service teachers to take extended developmental leave; (b) if so, what are the eligibility criteria and utilisation rates over the past three years; and (c) if not, whether the Ministry will consider such schemes to support well-being and strengthen professional development.

Mr Desmond Lee: To support our teachers' professional growth and well-being, the Ministry of Education (MOE) provides teachers with opportunities to go for work attachments or further studies. Under the Teacher Work Attachment Plus programme, which started in 2021, teachers can be attached to organisations and industries across different sectors based on their interests for up to four weeks.

Such work attachments help teachers to broaden their perspectives outside of teaching as part of professional growth, as they experience the work of the industry and interact with industry leaders. Teachers can then enrich classroom learning with authentic industry examples and provide students with relevant educational and career guidance. Since the programme started, teachers have participated in more than 730 attachments.

MOE also supports teachers through the provision of professional development leave (PDL) which provides up to 12 months' half-pay leave or 10 weeks' full-pay leave, depending on their years in service. Officers may also apply for no-pay PDL if they want to take a longer duration of leave for professional development. Over the past three years, more than 360 teachers have taken PDL of different durations, depending on their needs.