Struggling like... school staff
(Baonghean.vn) - People working in healthcare, libraries, and accounting are generally called school staff. They are likened to people who silently shoulder many different jobs. Many of them have to take on many tasks but the policies and income are not suitable.
Struggling to make a living
Nearly 35 years old and having worked for 8 years as a librarian and equipment staff at Con Cuong High School, Ms. Van Thi Phuong Thao always tells herself to try hard and try her best in her job despite her difficult circumstances. Because after getting married and having children, hardships came when both children became seriously ill, her first child had cerebral palsy and her second child was slow to develop.
Over the years, to be able to treat their child, the family has gone to many hospitals in and outside the province. The little money the couple saved was all used to treat their child.
Talking more about her situation, Ms. Van Thi Phuong Thao said: Currently, my salary is 8 million VND/month, not high compared to teachers but also more favorable compared to some other departments. However, with my family's current situation, living on this salary is really hard, because almost every month we have to take our children to Vinh or to Hanoi for medical examination, which is very expensive.
Also a librarian, Ms. Le Thi Tu - Ky Son High School does not take on the role of equipment but she also takes on the role of school secretary. She has been diligent and dedicated to her job for 13 years but her current salary is about 6 million VND/month. Meanwhile, with the same number of years of work, some other departments at the school can earn up to more than 10 million VND.
We all work in the education sector, but while teachers receive seniority allowances and teaching positions, we only receive a fixed salary. Even if we have a university degree, we can only start at the intermediate level…
Ms. Tu's situation is also difficult because she and her husband have been married for many years but still have to live in two places. Her husband and eldest child are teachers in Con Cuong district. She and her youngest daughter went to Ky Son district for work and to save money, both mother and daughter are living in a government house.
With a small salary, to have money to take care of the family, mother and child have to calculate, weigh and measure, and it is really not easy, especially when living in one of the localities with expensive costs.
Need for specific mechanisms and policies
Do Luong is one of the localities with a large number of schools and staff, with more than 200 people at all three levels of education including preschool, primary and secondary school.
Recently, employees performing tasks such as medical, accounting, library, and clerical duties at schools have submitted written requests for adjustments to a number of policies because the current salary and benefits are not guaranteed.
A survey by the Department of Education and Training of Do Luong district at 87 kindergartens, primary schools, secondary schools and the district's Center for Vocational Education - Continuing Education also showed that the general staff in the education sector in the district is currently lacking in staff.
Therefore, the number of employees does not meet the requirements of the job positions in schools, many people are having to take on multiple tasks that are not in their training.
It is worth mentioning that, despite having to take on many positions, the income of the staff is generally low, affecting the lives and aspirations of workers.
Specifically, currently, the employees are on the payroll, receiving salaries according to the salary scale coefficient as prescribed in Decree 204/2004/ND-CP and are entitled to some additional allowances from 0.1 (accounting staff) to 0.2/month (equipment staff) or a 20% subsidy of preferential allowances (medical staff) depending on the position. Meanwhile, for clerical staff, they do not receive any additional allowances. As for contract employees, they are paid according to the minimum wage of region III.
In Thanh Chuong district, through a survey at schools, Mr. Tran Xuan Ha - Head of the district's Department of Education and Training said: The staff in general in the education sector in Thanh Chuong district is currently lacking. In which, there are many schools where accounting staff do the duties of 2 schools or have to do concurrently as clerks. Besides, although they have to do many tasks and often work overtime, the income of the staff is low, with almost no other allowances.
In the whole province, according to the Department of Education and Training, the total number of employees working at schools is currently 3,329 people. Through understanding the mindset of the staff at schools, Mr. Dao Cong Loi - Deputy Director of the Department of Education and Training also said: Although educational institutions have paid salaries to staff according to regulations, the low salaries and allowances of school staff have affected the mindset of the staff, while this is a department with a lot of work, high pressure but the income is not commensurate.
Some job positions previously required a university degree and were classified according to the A1 civil servant salary table. Now the Ministry of Education and Training has issued a circular regulating codes and job titles that only require a college degree and are classified according to the A0 salary table, affecting the rights of employees.
Specifically: According to the provisions of Official Dispatch No. 4098 of 2007, for high school equipment staff requiring a university degree, salaries are classified according to salary table A1. However, in 2019 and 2021, the Ministry of Education and Training issued Circular 07/2019/TT-BGDDT, 21/2022/TT-BGDDT stipulating job title codes for high school equipment staff, and at the same time stipulating that employees who have been classified according to salary table A1 now have their salaries classified according to salary table A0, affecting the rights of employees (currently, the above subjects have not yet implemented salary classification according to the new circulars).
Regarding the issue of policies and regimes for staff in schools, at the end of January 2024, the working group of the Vietnam Education Trade Union coordinated with the Department of Education and Training and the Nghe An Education Trade Union to conduct a survey to grasp the situation of life, income, and working conditions of school staff in Thanh Chuong and Do Luong districts.
Previously,Vietnam Education Trade UnionAlso received 9 petitions with more than 500 signatures from school staff at many units in the province with 4 proposals.
+ Consider receiving industry-specific allowances or job-specific responsibility allowances and seniority allowances
+ Eliminating the form of title promotion exam and requesting to be considered for promotion instead of having to take the promotion exam does not ensure fairness between older and younger employees, uniformity between localities and does not demonstrate capacity and experience.
+The salary policy for accounting staff in the education sector is still very low compared to teachers and similar positions in other sectors, not really suitable for the job position.
+Teachers and staff all have summer vacation, but accountants still have to go to work and need to make appropriate adjustments.
During the working sessions, Mr. Nguyen Ngoc An - Chairman of the Vietnam Education Trade Union said: "The purpose of the survey is to grasp and understand the thoughts, aspirations and collect recommendations and proposals of school staff.
From there, there is a basis to propose to competent authorities for consideration and adjustment to ensure the legitimate and legal rights and interests of school staff.
Thereby aiming to improve the quality of educational services of schools and in the entire education sector"./.
