Many schools in Nghe An flexibly pay bonuses and certificates of merit to teachers.

Flexibility in using reward funds

In the 2022-2023 school year, teacher Hoang Thi Chau is the only teacher at Le Hong Phong High School (Hung Nguyen) to receive a certificate of merit from the Ministry of Education and Training. In addition, the school also has a teacher who received a certificate of merit from the Director of the Department of Education and Training for her many achievements during the school year.

Nearly 20 years in the profession, teacher Hoang Thi Chau -Biology teacher (born 1982)Share: This is the first time I have received a certificate of merit.Ministry of Education and Trainingso I am very proud of the results I have achieved. This is also the school's recognition of my efforts and a great encouragement for me to continue trying in the future.

To achieve this result, teacher Hoang Thi Chau also had a year of effort with many outstanding achievements when 3 students won prizes at the provincial excellent student competition for grade 12, including 1 second prize. Ms. Chau has a topic recognized as an innovative experience at the provincial level. Last school year, for the second time, she participated in the provincial excellent teacher competition and continued to be recognized. Before that, she also participated and was recognized as an excellent homeroom teacher at the provincial level.

Le Hong Phong High School has nearly 100 staff and teachers. Although the number is large, the number of teachers who received certificates of merit from the Department and the Ministry can be counted on the fingers of one hand, so teacher Nguyen Bich Hanh - Principal of the school believes that those who received the awards are truly deserving.

After the decision to be rewarded, Le Hong Phong High School also awarded certificates of merit from the Ministry and the Department to teachers on the occasion of Vietnam Teachers' Day November 20. The school principal has just signed a decision to approve the reward money for teachers, transferred it to the treasury and is scheduled to transfer it to the teachers this week.

Adding to this, the school principal said: We reward teachers according to state regulations. In particular, the reward level for the Ministry's certificate of merit is equal to 1.0 times the basic salary of 1 million 800 thousand VND. For teachers receiving a certificate of merit from the Department of Education and Training, the reward level is equal to 0.3 times the basic salary, equivalent to 540 thousand VND. The reward source is taken from the school's reward fund.

At Thanh Chuong 1 High School (Thanh Chuong), in recent years, the rewards for teachers who receive certificates of merit and certificates of merit are also taken from the school's reward fund with the reward level according to the guidelines. The reward fund is taken from many sources such as socialized sources, school savings and some other sources.

Up to now, many high schools across the province have awarded teachers who received certificates of merit from the Ministry of Education and Training. However, depending on each school, the level of award is different.

At Quynh Luu 1 High School, teacher Ho Sy Nam Thang said: All teachers who received certificates of merit from the Ministry have their awards taken from the school's award fund. However, due to the limited budget, the fund is used to award many teachers and students with achievements in teaching and learning, in nurturing excellent students... so the award level is mainly just for encouragement. The highest award level for a teacher at my school is about 1 million VND/person in cases such as students winning first prize in provincial excellent student competitions, students being commended for achieving high scores in the High School Graduation Exam.

Similarly, at Hoang Mai High School, teacher Chu Viet Tan - Vice Principal of the school said: In addition to the certificates of merit and certificates with bonus amounts, the school will use the school's budget according to internal spending regulations to reward teachers for the remaining certificates of merit and certificates. However, due to the limited budget, the reward amount is only about 700,000 VND - 800,000 VND/person.

Should the school be responsible?

For a long time, according to regulations, there have been two types of certificates of merit from the Ministry of Education and Training used to reward groups and individuals. The first is thematic certificates for individuals and groups with outstanding achievements in implementing the Ministry's topics and projects in certain periods.

With this certificate of merit, the Ministry also pays out bonuses, taken from the budget of the subject. The second type is regular certificates of merit for individuals and groups with outstanding achievements in each school year. With regular certificates of merit, the bonus and bonus are implemented according to Decree No. 91/2017/ND-CP of the Government. The bonus for those who receive a certificate of merit at the Ministry level is one time the basic salary (equivalent to 1.8 million VND).

In Nghe An, in 2023, the Minister of Education and Training signed a decision to award certificates of merit to 82 collectives and 365 individuals in the Nghe An Education sector for their outstanding achievements in the emulation movement "Innovation and creativity in management, teaching and learning" in the 2022-2023 school year.

The decision to grant certificates of merit by the Ministry of Education and Training clearly states that "accompanying the certificate of merit, the collective and individual will be awarded according to the reward level prescribed in Decree 91 dated July 31, 2017 of the Government, deducted from the emulation and reward fund of the submitting unit".

Although there have been guidelines, in the past, some units and schools have not paid rewards to teachers because it is unclear which agency pays rewards to teachers who receive certificates of merit at the Ministry level.

Discussing this content, Mr. Nguyen Trong Hoan - Chief of Office of the Department of Education and Training said that in the past, every time the Ministry of Education and Training awarded a certificate of merit, there was a bonus attached. But for the past 7 years, the bonus is no longer there, only the certificate of merit and in the award decision there is a note that the bonus will be taken from the emulation and reward fund of the submitting unit.

In the document guiding emulation and reward work issued by the Department of Education and Training in May 2023, it also stated that "bonuses for collectives and individuals awarded certificates of merit by the Director of the Department of Education and Training and certificates of merit by the Minister of Education and Training are implemented according to Article 73 of Decree 91/2017/ND-CP, the funding source is taken from the emulation and reward fund of the submitting unit".

“Because the instructions do not specify which unit is the presenting unit, the schools do not understand, so up to now the teachers who received the certificates of merit have not received the accompanying bonus. According to the Department's point of view, the presenting unit here is the first presenting unit, that is, the schools, not the Department or the office. The school whose member received the certificate of merit is responsible for paying this bonus,” said Mr. Nguyen Trong Hoan.

Regarding these concerns, the 2022 Law on Emulation and Commendation, recently passed by the National Assembly and effective from January 1, 2024, has new regulations on the emulation and commendation fund.

Accordingly, in Section 3, Article 11 on the Emulation and Reward Fund states: "Ministries, departments, branches, localities, agencies, organizations and units establish emulation and reward funds to spend on organizing emulation movements and implementing policies and regimes on rewards in accordance with the provisions of law".