More than 10 years ago, the education and training departments in Nghe An were short of staff, while the demand for work was increasing. Most education and training departments only had about 5 people, including leaders, to do a huge amount of work. Faced with this situation, on September 24, 2012, the People's Committee of Nghe An province issued Document No. 6612 on the staffing of the education and training department.
The content of this document states: Based on work requirements and job positions, the Chairman of the District People's Committee can second officials from affiliated public service units to work at the Department of Education and Training. Seconded officials are assigned and managed by the head of the Department of Education and Training. In addition to work and professional work, seconded officials also directly work as lecturers in training classes and professional training for officials in the Education sector; participate in training teams of excellent students, gifted students or participate in teaching some lessons at affiliated educational institutions. "Seconded officials are entitled to salaries, seniority allowances and other allowances according to regulations. The number of seconded officials in each Department of Education and Training is from 4 to 8 people," the document clearly states.
Most of the people selected for secondment are vice principals, principals, and teachers with excellent achievements. “They are all good people. It must be said that they are the elite of the schools. Because only then can they work at the Department of Education and Training, and help the Department direct the schools,” said Mr. Mai Ngoc Long, Head of the Department of Education and Training of Dien Chau district.
During the initial period of being seconded to work at the Department of Education and Training, these people will all have their income levels kept the same as before. After 6 months, those who were vice principals or principals will have their position allowances cut as prescribed. However, they will still be paid other allowances such as teaching allowances and seniority allowances.
In recent years, the contingent of seconded teachers has been considered the “right arm” of the education and training departments, because they are responsible for the professional work of the department. In reality, the current staffing for the education and training departments is only 4-6 people and they mainly take on positions such as head and deputy head of department. A few departments have 1-2 more staff to take charge of professional work. To fill this “gap”, seconding teachers from schools is inevitable and there are people who have worked at the education and training department for 10-15 years who are still seconded teachers. According to many teachers on secondment, when they decide to (be seconded) to work at the education and training departments, it is mainly because of their responsibility to the industry. Otherwise, if compared or “weighed and measured”, it is somewhat unsatisfactory.
According to the leader of the Nghe An Department of Education and Training, although the income level has decreased compared to before being seconded, all teachers on secondment have no comments and are dedicated to the education sector. The implementation of the regime for seconded officials according to the guidance in Official Dispatch No. 6612 of the Nghe An Provincial People's Committee issued on September 24, 2012 has ensured the regime for officials, contributing to stabilizing and improving the quality of the staff working in the departments of education and training.
The payment of allowances for seconded officials in the education sector has been implemented by localities in accordance with Official Dispatch No. 6612 for many years. However, in 2018, the Nghe An Department of Finance issued a document stating that the payment of this preferential allowance was not in accordance with the spirit of Decision No. 42/QD-TTg, dated August 5, 2011 of the Prime Minister on reserving the preferential allowance for teachers assigned to work in education management. Decision 42 has expired since May 2015 (The Decision was issued based on Resolution No. 35/2009/QH12 dated June 19, 2009 of the National Assembly on policies and orientations for innovation of a number of financial mechanisms in education and training from the 2010-2011 school year to the 2014-2015 school year), therefore, the Department of Finance believes that only cases with decisions on transfer and secondment during the period from September 1, 2010 to May 31, 2015 are entitled to the preferential allowance retention regime according to Decision No. 42 of the Prime Minister.
Meanwhile, Official Dispatch No. 6612 of the People's Committee of Nghe An province issued on September 24, 2012 provided guidance that seconded civil servants are entitled to receive salaries, seniority allowances and other allowances as prescribed. Regarding this issue, the Department of Finance stated that this Official Dispatch is not a legal document issued by the Provincial People's Committee but is only for guidance purposes. Therefore, the District People's Committee's decision to transfer and second civil servants to work at the Department of Education and Training and to pay preferential allowances and seniority allowances is not in accordance with regulations.
On February 9, 2018, Nghe An Department of Finance proposed the Provincial People's Committee to cancel or abolish Official Dispatch No. 6612, and at the same time, directed the District People's Committee to stop paying preferential allowances and seniority allowances to teachers who are mobilized or seconded to work at the Department of Education and Training in accordance with the provisions of Decision No. 42 of the Prime Minister.
On February 23, 2018, the People's Committee of Nghe An province assigned the Department of Home Affairs to advise the Provincial People's Committee on the implementation of mobilization, secondment, rotation of officials in the Education and Training sector and payment of allowances in accordance with current regulations. Then, on April 5, 2018, the Provincial People's Committee assigned the Department of Education and Training to advise on the development of a Resolution regulating support policies for officials in the Department of Education and Training.
According to Mr. Thai Van Thanh - Director of Nghe An Department of Education and Training, the unit then consulted on draft documents requesting the Provincial People's Committee to submit to the Provincial People's Council to develop a Resolution regulating the payroll, number of employees and support regime for education and training officials. However, when asking for opinions, some sectors (Department of Justice, Department of Finance...) said that it was not necessary or had concerns about the legal basis for drafting the document, so this content was not approved.
Because there is still no document from the competent authority regulating the support policy, most districts then continue to pay preferential allowances to officials seconded to the Department of Education and Training. By August 30, 2019, the People's Committee of Nghe An province issued Directive No. 15 on implementing the education and training tasks for the 2019-2020 school year, accordingly, the Provincial People's Committee directed "arranging jobs for leaders and specialists of the Department of Education and Training with sufficient staff; in places where they cannot be arranged, it is allowed to mobilize managers and teachers of affiliated educational institutions to work at the Department of Education and Training and enjoy the same regime as working at schools in the central area".
After Directive No. 15 was issued, on November 20, 2019, Nghe An Department of Finance continued to issue a document on the regime for teachers who were mobilized and seconded to work at the Department of Education and Training. The Department of Finance said that through auditing in districts in Nghe An province in 2018, the State Audit Office of Region II also concluded that the payment of preferential allowances for teachers mobilized and seconded to work at the Department of Education and Training was not in accordance with regulations according to Decision No. 42 of the Prime Minister. The Department of Finance once again requested the Provincial People's Committee to direct the District People's Committees to stop paying allowances that are not in accordance with regulations for teachers mobilized and seconded to work at the Department of Education and Training until there are regulations from competent authorities. However, this opinion was opposed by the Department of Education and Training.