Music teacher with master degree and double bachelor degrees paid only $2,500 (Asiaone)

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piano teacher

Music teacher with $2,500 salary feels underpaid

We want to teach our children soft skills, but do we value our teachers enough to pay them well? -AsiaOne

Thu, Apr 01, 2010
AsiaOne

He has a masters degree and four years of teaching experience, but this music teacher said in a forum that his monthly salary is only $2,500.

In a thread titled “Am I Underpaid???”, everyday5 wrote:

“I am holding a master degree in music from a recognized US university and double bachelor degrees in music and music business with a minor in marketing from the same university. Although I don’t have full-time working experience, I have been teaching part time for more than 4 years both private and in an university as a lecturer in the US.

“I just came back to Singapore for a few months, working in a music school in Singapore. I got $2,500 per month and is required to work 44 hours a week not including any breaks.

“Am I being underpaid? I did check with the boss, he insists that this is the rate in Singapore.”

He also added later that his salary in the US was twice as much, but he returned to Singapore as he missed his family.

Lianhe Wanbao, which reported the above, asked a music school if this was indeed the rate for music teachers in Singapore.

The school replied that many factors can affect the teacher’s pay including which school he graduated from, his grades, past working experience, what subjects or instruments he is teaching and the level of his students. Therefore it was not possible to tell if he was being underpaid.

One forummer was very sure that everyday5 was underpaid, using his own salary as the banchmark, he wrote:

“With Masters in Music, you should be able to command at least $50 an hour, which is horrendously below the $14 an hour you’re currently paid. My grade 8 piano lessons already pays me $65 an hour, and I know many more students who pay at an even higher rate.

“My frank opinion is that you should at least be securing $5,000 a month. You might want to consider private music tutoring if you want to triple your pay.”

A second forummer agreed:

“I am quite convinced that it is pure exploitation. I know of teachers (with only a music diploma) who have just started teaching, commanding similar salaries at fraction of the working hours.

“I would advise setting out on the private route. No private music school will ever pay more than what you can earn outside unless you have some profit sharing agreement with it.”

Yet another forummer was of the opinion that his employer could be putting him on probation until he proved himself. He also wrote:

“In any case, I hope you won’t regret & go back to US as things may not be better there. If you look deeper, although you may be earning double there, taxes are higher and so is cost of living. If you live alone, you have other things to take care of, such as rent, bills, opportunity cost.”

AsiaOne attempted to contact the forummer everyday5, but he did not respond.

The Ministry of Manpower’s Report on Wages in Singapore 2008 has no information on the wages of music teachers, but it lists the median monthly basic salary of a language school teacher as $2,100 and that of a private tutor as $2,500, while a sports coach can earn up to $3,513.

Basic pay excludes employers’ CPF contributions, bonuses, overtime payments, commissions and allowances.