Schools are saving money to give teachers Tet bonuses.

Efforts of non-public schools

In the last days of the old year, teachers and students of Quang Trung High School (Dien Chau) are busy preparing for the 2023 Spring Welcome program. In this special program, in addition to organizing traditional activities such as banh chung wrapping contest, performing arts, organizing Spring activities, another important content is giving Tet gifts to teachers and students in difficult circumstances.

In the past 2 weeks, the school has also mobilized more than 60 million VND from many different sources to promptly convert into meaningful Tet gifts. With the 2023 Spring Greetings program, this year's Tet seems to have come earlier for more than 700 teachers and students at this non-public school with many difficulties.

Flag salute time of students of Quang Trung High School - Dien Chau. Photo: NT

Having worked at Quang Trung High School for many years and now being the school's principal, teacher Nguyen Van Nam - the school's principal - said that compared to many other high schools in the province, the operations of non-public schools are many times more difficult.

However, with the spirit of "mutual love and support", with the desire to improve the lives of staff, teachers and workers and help many disadvantaged students, in recent years the school has had many solutions to save costs and many good ways to earn additional income other than tuition fees.

That is to mobilize union members to both manage students and keep vehicles for students, and to coordinate with vocational schools to both rent locations and provide free vocational training for students, and to make uniforms for students. The school also launched a campaign for each teacher to voluntarily contribute a portion of the tuition fee to the living fund for each extra class session...

In the past 3 years, the school's enrollment has become increasingly stable, the number of students registering for admission has exceeded the assigned target, so the school ensures the lives of teachers and has funds to support poor students. During this Tet holiday, although compared to many other schools, the school's income is not much, but thanks to savings, the school still tries to provide teachers with at least 1 month of basic salary each.

Teacher Nguyen Van Nam - Principal of Quang Trung High School also happily said: Compared to before, the income of teachers in the school has doubled and is on average from 6 - 10 million VND/person/month.

In addition, the school ensures full policies and fully pays insurance for employees. The school also pays great attention to the lives of teachers and staff, helping everyone feel secure in their work and stay with the job for a long time.

The Viet Anh education system with two main training levels, preschool and primary, has just gone through more than two years of the Covid-19 pandemic with many difficulties. In 2022, the first 4 months of the year were lost, preschool students could not go to school, the school had to compensate for the loss because it had to support teachers with 2 million VND per month and pay all insurance for employees.

Teachers of Quang Trung High School support poor students. Photo: My Ha

Although at this time, the organization of teaching and learning at the school still has many issues to be concerned about, but with the wish that teachers have a warm and complete Tet holiday, this year the school's management board still allocated about 500 million VND to prepare Tet gifts for more than 90 teachers and staff with the highest bonus of 6 - 8 million VND (for long-time employees, managers) and at least one month of basic salary (for young teachers). This is also considered one of the schools with the highest Tet bonus for the non-public sector and really brings joy to the staff, teachers and workers in the unit.

Mr. Phan Huu Hoang - Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Viet Anh Education System also added: Compared to other professions, the Tet bonus for teachers is still modest. However, with our ability, we always try to take care of Tet for teachers, help teachers have a full and warm Tet and also a way for us to show gratitude to the staff and teachers of the school.

Even though the Tet bonus is modest, it still feels warm

Up to this point, the concept"Tet bonus"seems to be quite unfamiliar to many teachers because schools are non-profit units. Therefore, Tet bonuses are actually a source of savings for schools and compared to the general level in the whole province, teachers' Tet bonuses are very low.

This year, according to statistics from the Department of Education and Training, the lowest Tet bonus is 200,000 VND/person at a public high school in Do Luong district. Meanwhile, the highest bonus is 4,000,000 VND/person at a public school in Vinh city. The average Tet bonus in the whole industry ranges from 1,000,000 - 2,000,000 VND/person. In mountainous districts, the Tet bonus is often lower, sometimes only 500,000 - 1,000,000 VND with some other gifts. The Tet bonus with the 13th month salary seems very rare.

Teacher Nguyen Van Khoa - Principal of Bac Ly Secondary School for Ethnic Minorities - Ky Son said: Schools in mountainous districts have no source of income, so we do not have funds to pay Tet bonuses to teachers. However, every year, we try to save to pay Tet gifts for teachers from 400,000 - 500,000 VND. In addition, the union also supports each person with 200,000 VND.

The Department of Education and Training presents Tet gifts to teachers working in Bac Ly commune - Ky Son. Photo: My Ha

To share with workers, before the Lunar New Year, the Department of Education and Training and the Education Trade Union requested schools to proactively develop plans based on actual conditions, coordinate with the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee and local organizations to mobilize social resources, organize visits and encourage students from families with meritorious services, orphans and homeless students. In addition, there are gifts to encourage retired cadres, teachers and employees in difficult circumstances; cadres, teachers and students whose relatives are on duty in the sea and border areas of the Fatherland.

Before students returned home for Tet holiday, the Education Trade Union also organized the program "Happy New Year- Spring Connection" for more than 130 teachers working at English centers, Math Thinking centers and some non-public kindergartens in the area. This is also an annual activity that has been maintained continuously for the past 6 years to bring a warm, happy Tet and encourage teachers and workers to stick together and contribute more to the cause of education and training development.

Invited to attend this program, teacher Ho Thi Huong - Asem English Center said: When I received the program, I was very surprised because for the first time, teachers at an English center like us were interested in and invited by the Education sector to attend a meaningful program. Personally, I have just gone through a difficult year, especially during the two years of the Covid-19 pandemic, our income was cut in half. However, thanks to this sharing and encouragement, we have more determination to try. In this program, the leaders of the units also expressed their joy because in recent years, non-public schools have always received attention and support.

The Education sector has launched the Tet Sum Vay program for non-public teachers. Photo: My Ha

Mr. Dang Minh Chuong - Chairman of the Board of Directors of Tuoi Tho Kindergarten said: Not only during the epidemic, but at this time, some of my facilities are still facing many difficulties, especially those located in industrial parks because more than 30% of students are absent from school due to workers being laid off. However, we still try to ensure Tet for workers and strive for each person to have an additional 13th month salary. The Tet bonus is not high, so the education sector's attention and support of additional Tet money for some teachers of the school is very practical and timely to encourage teachers both materially and spiritually.

In addition to the teachers participating in the program, this year's Tet, the Department and the Education Trade Union mobilized about 1 billion VND to support 450 teachers and 350 disadvantaged students in non-public schools and mountainous districts, remote areas of the province.

Mr. Dang Van Hai - Chairman of the Education Trade Union also said: The Education sector does not have Tet bonuses, but we try to bring Tet gifts to teachers to encourage teachers who are in difficult circumstances and are working in difficult areas of the province.

This is also a good tradition of the industry and I believe that, with this joint effort, teachers and workers will have more joy and motivation to stick with the profession and have a warm and happy Tet.