You're invited — Adjunct Trainers & Lecturers Association Singapore
You already do the work. Let's make sure you're not doing it alone.
Fractional CFOs have guilds. Fractional CISOs have peer networks and rate cards. Fractional lecturers — the retired professors, industry PMETs, consultants and full-time practitioners who now carry a growing share of Singapore's teaching, from tertiary classrooms to skills and hobby workshops — have none of that yet. We'd love for you to help build it with us.
Membership status — pending
Every account registered today is recorded with pending membership status. Membership can only be confirmed once the ATLAS Constitution is finalised and ATLAS is registered with the Registry of Societies (ROS). You can still sign up, verify your institutional email, join the discussion and comment on the draft constitution in the meantime.
Accounts & membership
Two steps: an account today, membership when ATLAS is registered
Anyone can create an ATLAS account with Google, Microsoft (Hotmail/Outlook) or Apple. From your profile you can then apply to become a member.
Sign up in seconds
Use Gmail, Hotmail/Outlook or Apple ID. Every account gets read access to the ATLAS World channel and the Draft Constitution RFC.
Apply for membership
Verify an institutional email (.edu, .ac under any TLD, or a whitelisted institution domain) — or nominate an existing member as your sponsor if you have neither.
Status: pending
All membership stays pending until the ATLAS Constitution is finalised and ATLAS is registered with the Registry of Societies.
00 — The landscape
Singapore already has a body for almost everyone in the room
Full-time teachers have one. Employers have one. Institutions have one. Even standards have one. Here's what already exists, and exactly where it stops.
01 — The shift
Teaching went fractional. Let's make sure the support catches up.
If you're a retired academic staying active, a PMET teaching alongside a full-time career, or a full-time adjunct stitching modules together — wherever you're starting from, this is worth building together.
Term-to-term
Most adjunct and training contracts renew module by module, with no continuity of CPF, leave, or L&D budget between them.
No benchmark
Hourly and per-module rates vary widely across polytechnics, private institutions, universities and corporate training — with no shared reference point.
One institution wide
Onboarding, PD hours and quality marks reset at every school. Nothing an adjunct, trainer, or retired professor builds travels with them.
02 — The case for organising
Here's what joining together could give us
None of this exists yet — it's what we'd be building, together, from the ground up.
A collective voice
A single lecturer's concern is easy for an institution to set aside, however valid. Together, as a recognised association, we're harder to overlook — on contract terms, course IP, AI-in-teaching policy, or last-minute module cancellations.
A rate benchmark, done transparently
Anonymised ranges (medians and quartiles), segmented by subject, institution type, qualification level and teaching format, with published methodology and sample sizes.
A professional profile that travels with you
Not a new credential — a portable record of what you already have: NAE status, ACLP/ACTA, institutional qualifications, CPD hours, and teaching experience, all in one place you control.
Shared infrastructure
Group insurance rates, a recommended contract template as good-practice reference, and practical guidance on CPF and Medisave as a self-employed instructor.
Continuity across engagements
CPD hours and mentorship that persist across institutions and terms, rather than resetting every time a contract ends.
A community, not a contract list
Adjuncts and trainers sit outside the staff room by design. Let's build the room ourselves — a standing body of peers across institutions, disciplines and career stages.
03 — What we'd run together
From constitution to calendar
This is the working list — add to it, shape it, tell us what we've missed.
Institutional & policy liaison
A standing channel to institutions, MOE and SWDA on matters affecting adjunct terms and standards.
Professional portfolio
A portable profile recognising NAE status, existing qualifications, CPD and teaching experience.
Transparent rate benchmark
Anonymised ranges with published methodology, segmented by subject, institution type and level.
Contract reference & group insurance
A recommended contract template, plus negotiated group insurance for self-employed instructors.
Vacancy & referral board
Member-only visibility of openings across participating institutions.
Congress & case clinics
Regular sessions to trade notes on institutions, curriculum design and AI-in-teaching practice.
04 — Precedent
We wouldn't be the first to try this — just the first here
Casualisation of teaching isn't a Singapore-only trend. ATLAS would sit closer to the US model: a professional association built on advocacy and standards, not industrial action.
05 — The NTUC question
Not a union on day one — but a real path there, if we grow it together
ATLAS would register as a Societies Act society, not a trade union. But Singapore's Labour Movement already has a welcoming on-ramp for exactly this kind of body.
Register with ROS
ATLAS stands up as a Societies Act society with its own constitution, committee and members.
Build a real membership base
Past the 10 founding members, toward a membership count that makes ATLAS worth partnering with.
Apply for U Associate partnership
NTUC's U Associate programme extends the Labour Movement to PMEs through existing industry associations — a B2B partnership, not a merger, bringing UTAP subsidies and advisory services.
Full trade union affiliation — a later, harder step
A separate, heavier track under the Trade Unions Act, realistic only once ATLAS has years of standing as a professional body.
06 — "Doesn't the NAE Registry already do this?"
No — and here's the honest distinction
The National Adult Educator (NAE) Registry, run by IAL with SWDA, is a good thing. It's also not what ATLAS is for.
07 — The founding documents
What we stand for, in writing
Before there's a constitution, there's a shared understanding of why ATLAS exists. Here's ours — draft, and open to your thinking.
Recognition as a professional class
A Singapore where adjunct trainers and lecturers are professionally supported, fairly treated, and represented on matters affecting their practice and livelihood.
Represent, support, professionalise
Across Singapore's polytechnics, private education institutions, universities, and corporate and SkillsFuture training providers.
Granted by members
To advocate collectively through lawful, constructive engagement with institutions and relevant government agencies.
Current agenda
What we'd tackle first
- 01Run ATLAS's founding survey of adjunct and training conditions in Singapore
- 02Build the founding roll toward ROS registration
- 03Publish a transparent, segmented rate benchmark from the survey data
- 04Draft a recommended (not mandatory) model contract template
- 05Explore group insurance and CPF/Medisave guidance for self-employed instructors
Read the draft constitution
The actual clause-by-clause document we'd file with ROS — published early, on purpose, so you can pick it apart before it's set in stone.
08 — The founding roll
Ten names start a society in Singapore. Could one of them be yours?
Under the Societies Act, a society needs a minimum of 10 individuals and a President, Secretary and Treasurer to submit for registration with the Registry of Societies.