Teachers' salaries ranked highest: Is it feasible?

The highest teacher salary compared to the administrative career salary scale system has been mentioned for more than 10 years and clearly stated in Resolution 29-NQ/TW on fundamental and comprehensive innovation in education and training. Currently, the Draft Law on Teachers continues to propose this issue and has received positive feedback, along with analysis of feasibility.

Inspiring faith

According to Resolution No. 27-NQ/TW on salary policy reform, from July 1, 2024, teachers' salaries will change positively. This information, along with the proposal of the Draft Law on Teachers, makes Ms. Nguyen Thi Trang - a teacher at a Primary School in Soc Son District (Hanoi) full of confidence, because a salary increase has been her long-standing wish.

According to Ms. Trang, if teachers' salaries were ranked highest in the administrative salary scale, it would resolve many concerns of staff across the country. Currently, teachers' salaries do not guarantee a living standard; while teachers' work is unique and different from other professions.

“Our job is to teach and to educate people. I, like many teachers across the country, always hope that the salary proposal in the Draft Law on Teachers will become a reality,” Ms. Trang expressed.

Salary regulations are applied to all civil servants in all sectors and fields. This leads to inadequacies in not being able to reflect the complexity of different professions; including the special labor of teachers.

Through contact with voters, Ms. Duong Minh Anh (National Assembly Delegation of Hanoi City) realized that improving salaries and creating motivation for teachers to contribute is the desire of voters in the education sector. Therefore, the Government and related ministries and sectors need to have clear information about the salary table from July 1. Thereby, teachers can see that reforming the salary policy is the right thing to do.

The new salary will be higher.

The draft Law on Teachers proposes that teachers' salaries are given the highest priority compared to the administrative career salary scale system, Mr. Vu Minh Duc - Director of the Department of Teachers and Educational Managers (Ministry of Education and Training) reiterated.

According to the draft law, the salary and salary policies of teachers working at autonomous educational institutions are not lower than the salary and salary policies of teachers with the same training level, seniority, and title in non-autonomous educational institutions; at the same time, they are not lower than the regional minimum wage as prescribed by the Government. Teachers working in sectors and fields with special conditions are entitled to special regimes.

The Director of the Department of Teachers and Education Managers further discussed that according to Resolution No. 27-NQ/TW, basic salary accounts for 70% and preferential allowance accounts for 30%. The spirit is that the education sector is entitled to preferential allowances according to the profession. The preferential allowance level of teachers is the highest among the professions entitled to allowances.

The principle in implementing Resolution No. 27-NQ/TW is: The new salary must not be lower than the old salary. In case the new salary is arranged to be lower than the current salary, the teacher has the right to retain the old salary. Therefore, teachers can rest assured that the new salary from July 1 will be higher than the old salary.

At the 7th Session of the 15th National Assembly, Deputy Prime Minister Le Minh Khai presented the Government's report on the additional assessment of the results of the implementation of the socio-economic development plan and the State budget in 2023, and the implementation situation in the first months of 2024. By the end of 2023, about 680 trillion VND had been set aside to implement the new wage policy.

Whether salary reform is feasible or not depends largely on financial resources. According to Minister of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs Dao Ngoc Dung, the most difficult thing is not having money. However, this time, money has been provided (680 trillion VND) and reported to the National Assembly. This salary reform has many new issues. The core is paying salaries according to job positions. To do so, job positions must be identified. Job positions have 3 characteristics: Stability, long-term and regularity. The structure of each job position includes a job description and a competency framework.

Regarding the reference level, Minister Dao Ngoc Dung said that this is a new concept, replacing the basic salary level. The reference level is calculated based on economic growth CPI, practice, revenue - expenditure. If in the coming time, the basic salary of 1.8 million VND is not abolished, the reference level will continue to be this number. After the implementation of Resolution 27, the general salary level increased by several dozen percent, then that is the reference level.

Regarding the reference level, when implementing salary reform, the basic salary level (currently used as the basis for social insurance contributions, pensions, social benefits and many other policies) will be abolished, Mr. Lam Van Doan - Deputy Chairman of the National Assembly's Social Committee explained at the press conference to inform about the expected program of the 7th Session of the 15th National Assembly. Government agencies are calculating the appropriate reference level, so that it is not lower when applying the basic salary level. National Assembly agencies are also conducting a comprehensive review and assessment of this issue.

According to Mr. Lam Van Doan, the reference level and specific multiplier at the time of salary reform as well as application for the following years require close calculation, so that working employees can enjoy optimal benefits.