Vinh City preschool teachers struggle to 'change careers' amid 'Covid season'

Make a living with a side job

From the owner of a private kindergarten, in the past few months, Ms. Nguyen Thi L. in Nghi Kim commune (Vinh city) has switched to online sales, mainly selling fruits from the South.

This job is much harder than teaching before, but it is an important source of income for the family at this time when the facility is no longer operating because students have been out of school for many months. Sharing more, Ms. L said: I opened the new facility only 1 year ago, so the work is still difficult and I have not been able to recover the capital. Currently, because students are not going to school, the teachers at the facility have to quit and I myself have to work extra to make ends meet...

Kindergarten teachers make tools and toys during the time students are off school. Photo: MH

Since the outbreak of Covid-19, Nguyen Thi B, a teacher at a famous kindergarten in Vinh city, has been forced to return to her hometown in Tan Ky district and make a living by selling goods online. However, while in cities and central areas, trading is easy because of the large number of buyers and high demand, in the countryside, trading is much more difficult and there are days when she has no customers.

Through discussion, Ms. B also said: Since the school had to close, teachers were also notified to take a break, but we do not know if their salary or insurance will be paid or not? We also asked many teachers at other schools and learned that they are in the same situation. Currently, most teachers are unemployed, have no income and have to live by "online sales".

Due to the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic, all kindergartens have had to close for an extended period of time. Photo: MH

Teacher Nguyen Thao L - a teacher at a private kindergarten with nearly 10 years of experience in the profession in Vinh city shared: Previously, we were only paid 9 months of teaching salary a year, and in the summer months we were only paid more than 1 million VND, according to the basic salary. Therefore, during this break due to the epidemic, the teachers in the school determined that there would be no salary and during the break, everyone tried to find a "side job" to make a living. I myself contacted a seafood store in my hometown to sell goods online. When it's sunny, I sell yogurt or some candy...

Students are out of school, private schools are struggling

Due to the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic, for more than 2 months now, kindergartens, primary schools and secondary schools in the whole province have had to close for an extended period. However, while public schools still ensure salary payment during the suspension period, non-public schools are in a difficult situation.

In Hung Tay commune, before Tet, Minh Anh private kindergarten had just opened and attracted a large number of students. However, after only 1.5 months, students had Tet holiday and then another long holiday due to the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic. Currently, 3 teachers of the facility have had to quit their jobs and the owner does not know how to pay the teachers' salaries because the school has no source of income and the owner himself is still in debt to the bank because he had to invest more than 1 billion VND to build the private kindergarten.

During the school break, kindergartens continue to spray disinfectants to ensure safety. Photo: MH

Speaking more about his situation, Mr. Nguyen Dinh Tao said: For small establishments like ours, all income depends on the number of students attending. In the first few months, because there were not enough students, we had to make up for the loss. Now, the school does not know how to resolve the benefits for teachers, because the school cannot afford to pay salaries, and if they do not pay salaries, teachers may quit and it will be very difficult to recruit them again later.

On the Facebook page of teacher Nguyen Thi Cam - owner of a kindergarten in Vinh city, since the students have been out of school, she has been regularly updating information about online sales. Talking about the reason, she shared that these are all sales pages of teachers in the school and she wants to share them with everyone to help teachers in this difficult time.

Previously, with more than 100 students, Yen Binh Kindergarten was trusted by many parents, so teaching and learning at the school was quite stable, teachers were paid salaries and paid social insurance in full. After more than 2 months of students being off school, the school's spending faced many difficulties and the school had to struggle to pay social insurance for teachers.

The owner of this facility also shared: I know that at this stage, teachers in the school are willing to share difficulties with the Board of Directors, but we still have to try because if we do not pay insurance, teachers will lose many benefits, especially now that the school has teachers preparing to give birth. However, I also hope that this situation will improve soon because if it continues for a long time, the school will also face many difficulties.

Some other schools such as Arita Kindergarten still have to spend more than 100 million VND per month to pay salaries for 24 teachers. However, in the long term, Ms. Nguyen Thi Thuy - Principal of the school admitted many difficulties: Currently, we still pay 100% of the teachers' salaries. However, if the school continues to be closed, it will cause difficulties for the school and we expect that if the school is closed for 6 months, we will only pay 70% of the salary and for the whole year, only 50%.

In these difficult times, ensuring teachers' rights is an effort of schools. Photo: MH

Regarding this issue, the Vinh City Department of Education and Training and a number of other education departments have also begun to compile opinions from schools to send to the Department of Education and Training. Mr. Le Truong Son - Deputy Head of the Vinh City Department of Education and Training said: Through the synthesis of more than 30 non-public kindergartens in the city, we see that the common difficulty now is that schools do not have money to pay salaries and social insurance and health insurance for staff and teachers, some newly established schools have difficulty in paying bank interest. In addition, due to the long school break, it affects enrollment to ensure the school's plan and personnel recruitment plan. In public primary and preschool schools, there is no source to pay for cooking staff.

Currently, the Department of Education and Training has also requested the Department of Education and Training to consult with the authorities on a support mechanism for non-public kindergartens and to consult with the Social Insurance agency to extend the delay in paying social insurance premiums for cadres, teachers and employees of non-public kindergartens.