The difficult life of teachers with nearly 20 years of contract teaching in Nghe An

Teacher and handyman

For more than a month now, Mr. Nguyen Duy Trinh (44 years old, Hau Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district) has been in despair since receiving the news that he failed the special recruitment of teachers organized by Yen Thanh district. Having devoted his entire youth to the teaching profession, Mr. Trinh's love for the teaching profession has now diminished after many years of effort but still not being recognized.

“If I still can’t get my complaint resolved this time, I might quit my job. Because the conditions don’t allow it anymore,” said Mr. Trinh. Graduating from the Da Nang College of Physical Education and Sports in 2004, Mr. Trinh has been teaching Physical Education at Hung Thanh Primary School on a contract basis ever since. At that time, the salary of a contract teacher like Mr. Trinh was only 200,000 VND/month. His father was a disabled veteran, his mother was often sick, and their life depended on a few acres of rice fields and his father’s allowance for meritorious people. Therefore, they placed a lot of hope on their rare son to get a proper education, hoping to escape the life of working hard.

Mr. Trinh and his wife still have to live with his parents in a dilapidated house. Photo: HH

However, since Mr. Trinh started teaching, his family's life has not improved much. Because the salary of a contract teacher is not enough for his own pocket money, supporting his parents is a luxury. Not long after teaching, Mr. Trinh got married and became a kindergarten teacher. Life became even more difficult when his two children were born. Because they did not have money to build their own house, Mr. Trinh and his wife still have to live with his parents in a dilapidated house, more than 50 square meters wide, and do not even have their own room.

Despite his difficult life, Mr. Trinh always tries his best to complete his tasks at school. He is highly appreciated by his colleagues and the school's board of directors. In addition to being a Physical Education teacher, Mr. Trinh also spent 10 years as the Secretary of the school's Youth Union. To be able to join the staff early, he also spent time teaching and studying, and now has a university degree. During his 18 years of teaching, Mr. Trinh has been honored to receive many Certificates of Merit from the Ministry of Education and Training, the Department of Education and Training, and the Chairman of the District People's Committee... Mr. Trinh was also a famous figure in the press 3 years ago, when he risked his life to save a drowning male student, and was later awarded Certificates of Merit by many units.

Sharing with reporters, teacher Nguyen Duy Trinh said that his current salary is only a little over 2 million VND/month. "Sometimes I feel ashamed of my family because the salary is too low, it doesn't help much. Each month it's only enough for gas money, if there are a few more weddings, it's all gone," teacher Trinh said. To support his family, for many years this male teacher has had to work as a "handyman". That is, he does whatever he can find, whatever he's hired to do. On days when he doesn't have classes, teacher Trinh asks to work as a bricklayer, sometimes he repairs electricity. During the summer, he also opens swimming classes for children in the village to earn a little extra income.

“I probably can’t continue teaching now, even though I love it. My child will soon be in college, and it will cost a lot of money, and my salary probably won’t be enough. I have to find another job to support my child’s education,” Mr. Trinh said sadly.

To support his family, Mr. Trinh does many jobs. Photo: HH

Regarding the case of Mr. Nguyen Duy Trinh, Ms. Nguyen Thi Nga - Principal of Hung Thanh Primary School said that although his salary is only over 2 million/month, Mr. Trinh's labor standards are the same as other permanent teachers, with 23 teaching periods per week. However, the salary of permanent teachers is many times higher than that of contract teachers. "Mr. Trinh is very enthusiastic, because he is under contract, he strives very hard, with the hope of being on the payroll. The school board and colleagues also want him to be recognized and on the payroll. Because he spent his entire youth pursuing the teaching profession, now he is old, it is difficult for him to quit teaching to do another job," Ms. Nga said.

Waiting for the establishment

In the same situation as Mr. Trinh, Mr. Phan Tat Tuan (41 years old, teacher at Quang Thanh Primary School) said that he is also thinking of giving up, after nearly 20 years of pursuing the teaching profession. Mr. Tuan also has a university degree, and has been teaching Physical Education at this school since 2004. However, up to now, his salary is only 1.9 million VND/month. His wife is also just an employee at the medical station, so each month the total income of the couple is only about 6 million VND. Therefore, even though they have been married for a long time, Mr. Tuan and his wife still cannot live separately.

“At first, I thought that after a while of teaching, I would be recognized and placed on the payroll. So I kept pursuing it, waiting year after year. Now my youth is gone. Luckily, I live with my parents and have my father’s war invalid salary to rely on. In addition, the family has to work an additional acre of rice fields to make ends meet, even though it is difficult,” said Mr. Tuan.

In Yen Thanh district, in addition to Mr. Trinh and Mr. Tuan, there are many other teachers in the same situation. According to statistics from the Yen Thanh District Internal Affairs Department, at present, the whole district has 415 contract teachers. This is the locality with the largest number of contract teachers in Nghe An province. Among them, there are teachers who are 51 years old. To keep their dream of being on the payroll, they have to do many other jobs.

Discussing this issue, the leader of the Yen Thanh District Department of Internal Affairs said that the district leaders also understand the difficult situation of contract teachers. However, the locality also has very few staffing quotas. "In the recent special recruitment round, many teachers who failed were also concerned and had opinions. However, the district's recruitment process was correct. There was no negativity," he affirmed.

Contract teachers in Yen Thanh district share with reporters. Photo: HH

Regarding the recruitment issue, recently, 12 teachers who are children of war invalids have sent a collective complaint to the Nghe An Provincial Inspectorate. Most of these teachers have at least 15 years of teaching experience under contract. However, their current salary is only around 2 million VND/month.

In the petition, the teachers said that they were children of wounded soldiers, sick soldiers, and policy beneficiaries, had many achievements during their work, had many contributions and achievements in movements for the district, and all participated in paying insurance before 2015. “We are long-term contract teachers with low salaries and many hardships. But because of our love for the profession and hope for the future, we still try our best and stick with the profession, always completing all assigned tasks well. After receiving Official Dispatch No. 5378 on special recruitment for teachers who had labor contracts and paid social insurance from 2015 or earlier. We were very happy and excited,” the teachers stated in the petition.

However, these teachers said that the recruitment process was not done correctly. That is, the selection board did not take selection as the main focus but mainly conducted an exam, which led to a situation where some young teachers were hired first, while those with dedication and seniority were not recruited.

“According to Official Dispatch 5378 / BNV –CCVC dated November 5, 2019, only those who pay compulsory social insurance according to the provisions of the Law on Social Insurance are eligible to apply. Meanwhile, in the recent recruitment round, we saw that there were a number of teachers who were on school contracts - those who paid insurance voluntarily but were still allowed to apply. This is contrary to the spirit of this official dispatch,” the teachers added.