The Learning Lab reviews about "class"

A lot of cover classes and the requests can be very last minute You are always travelling between centres Very very difficult to take leave

The management is out to squeeze every dollar out of both the teaching staff and the parents. Teachers are given a huge workload and are often at the mercy of the team that does the class scheduling who are generally unempathetic and would take advantage of you if you are generally a cooperative and helpful colleague. You will realise that there is a lot of injustice. If you are a responsible employee, you will have to take over the slack from other teaching colleagues who take frequent and strategic MCs. After TLL was bought over by a private equity in 2014/2015, everything went downhill. Good teachers have left because of the culture change and you get a lot of junior teachers who are inexperienced and overworked. While it may pay slightly better than the average chains in this industry, the workload negates any additional perks you get.

Too many classes were deployed to the teachers.

-Progression is a bit slow, but job is very comfortable and starting salary is already very competitive - need to work weekends - occasionally have to deal with entitled kids and demanding parents

Last min cover classes and should continue with old scheme. Management took out the old scheme

- last minute covers can be assigned to you but you can't tell the planning team that you can't classes at the last minute (you need to tell them waaaaay in advance) - lesson planning and marking time isn't taken into account in your schedule so of course it will eat into your weekends - need to work 9-6 on both weekends (& be prepared to come in early to prepare for 9am classes although it won't be reimbursed) - may need to deal with unsupportive/unreasonable clients (students & parents) - self-entitled acad team/upper management who may use their power to get their way with issues you raise and offer insincere words of advice (bonus: you may get a dismissive subject head (SH) who thinks your worries as a new hire are invalid) - long notice period (2months - probation, 3 months - after confirmation) - entirely opaque about their bonuses (besides their 13th-month bonus) - applying for annual leaves 1 year in advance is the norm (having any last minute one approved would definitely depend on whether you scratch the planning team's back, they responded to mine rather quickly after i immediately ok-ed their last minute cover class in a faraway location)

I honestly don't know where to start. Hope things have changed since I left. 1. Leave - 14 days AL and good luck trying to actually take it. I once applied for leave 6 months in advance for my husbands bday and got rejected. Their leave system sucks and there is no transparency. You will end up with 2 days here and there at random points of the year, so planning a holiday with loved ones is near impossible. And if you do, everyone has to pander to your ridiculous TLL schedule. 2. Cutthroat and capitalistic - their priority is purely profit. As teachers, many of us have genuine passion and a desire to nurture our students. However, the way the company is run is purely profit-driven, making teachers feel absolutely disposable and worthless. No grace is given, such that teachers are teaching 9am classes the day after Christmas. When I asked my supervisor if they would consider having a Christmas term break or anything, she simply looked at me and asked 'what do you think,,?' 3. Their cover system...omg this was insane. When I first started, I was told I would be posted to a centre near my home. Suddenly, when my job starts, I am told I will be at a different centre that is a good 40 min away from Sg. I was upset but couldn't do anything as I realised it was not stated in my contract. However, they will have no qualms sending you all over Singapore at the last minute to cover for teachers who are on MC. You could be in Jurong one day and Marine Parade the next. And no, before you ask, grab fare is not covered. 4. Career progression/growth: In my time there, I did not have a single conversation with any superiors about my future prospects lol. 5. You will be given 2 days off, but when you start, you will certainly not get friday-sunday off. Apparently that is a privilege that comes with more seniority and experience, which feels a little...arbitrary.

Avoid at all costs. Worst career choice of my life. Untrained teachers are forced to handle special needs students, workload is unbearable with endless marking and last-minute classes, and you’re sent commuting all over the country. Meetings and trainings are often scheduled on your days off, so there’s no real rest. Toxic management, toxic colleagues. Have to deal with 12 to 14 rude, disruptive students in a class. Absolutely draining and disorganized place to work.