Tet Bonus for Teachers: An Old Story

(Baonghean) - Tet is approaching. When talking about Tet, many teachers feel sad when thinking about bonuses. In some places, for many years, Tet gifts have only been a package of MSG, a box of cakes, or a kilo of rice.

Tet is always meaningful to teacher Phan Thi Hong at Huoi Tu Kindergarten, because this is the long occasion when she can return home with her two children who are currently living with their grandparents in Hamlet 8, Ngoc Son Commune, Thanh Chuong District. For her, that is also the biggest Tet gift, and she never dared to think about the Tet bonus after more than ten years of teaching at Huoi Tu Kindergarten. Huoi Tu Kindergarten is located in a remote area, it takes more than an hour to get there by motorbike from Ky Son Town. More than 90% of the students at the school are children of poor households, each family has at least 4 to 5 children, so there is almost no income from students. Teaching poor students, the needs of teachers are also very simple. When Tet comes, the sisters in the school never think about bonuses because they understand that the school does not have enough money, so where can they get gifts for teachers? Every year, when it is "luxurious", having an extra kilo of MSG, a box of cakes, and a calendar is a joy.

Teacher Bui Anh Bac - Vice Principal of Muong Long Secondary Boarding School for Ethnic Minorities confided: It's the end of the year but the school board has not found a source to give Tet gifts to encourage teachers. In previous years, thanks to saving expenses and taking a little from the union fund, a teacher had from 200,000 - 300,000 VND. This year the school is trying to keep up with previous years. Teacher Nguyen Dinh Hung - Vice Principal of Huoi Tu Secondary Boarding School for Ethnic Minorities said: The school has up to 90% of students being Mong people, from the students' meals, tuition fees to the school's budget are all supported by the state. Therefore, there is almost no additional income. The school board has also held a meeting and discussed the issue of Tet gifts for teachers, but if they try hard, they can only get a few hundred thousand VND to encourage them, otherwise they can only get a few packages of cakes and MSG. Those who are emulation soldiers will receive additional gifts from the province.

Teachers of Huoi Tu Secondary School for Ethnic Minorities instruct students in class.

The issue of Tet bonuses is also something that leaders of the Ky Son District Education Department have been concerned about for many years. Mr. Nguyen Hong Hoa - Head of the Education Department also shared that: Tet bonuses for teachers are completely worthy, because teachers in difficult mountainous areas have many disadvantages. Most of them are teachers from the lowlands, away from home for a year, everyone wants to have a Tet bonus to show off to their relatives. But because there is no budget, the regular expenditure for each school per year is only 60 - 70 million VND, so the schools do not know where to look for Tet bonuses for teachers. As for the department's education union, there is only a small fund, taken out to visit and give gifts to teachers in difficult circumstances...

The Education sector is also one of the sectors with the lowest Tet bonus levels today. Up to this point, although there are no complete statistics, many schools have reported on the Tet bonus situation. In which, the highest bonus is the leadership of Nguyen Du High School (Dien Chau) with 8 million VND, the average teacher is 3,100,000 VND. As for the other schools, the highest is Dien Chau 5 High School with: 1,500,000 VND, Huynh Thuc Khang High School (Vinh City) with an average of 700,000 VND, Nghi Loc 3 High School: 500,000 VND, Quynh Luu 4 High School: 300,000 VND. Con Cuong High School, the highest is 100,000 VND and the lowest is 50,000 VND.

In particular, the Thanh Chuong District Continuing Education Center is not expected to have a Tet bonus at this time, because according to Mr. Le Van Kiem - Director of the center, in the past two years the number of students coming to study at the center has decreased a lot with more than 100 students a year. There is no source of income, while the minimum wage and salary quota for teachers have both increased, so the income from tuition fees is not enough to cover the teachers. Nguyen Truong To High School (Hung Nguyen District), where many poor students are also in difficult circumstances, up to this point the source of tuition compensation for poor students has not been transferred. Therefore, the Tet bonus for teachers is only from 200,000 - 300,000 VND. Also because of lack of funding, this year, although Nguyen Truong To High School has 3 students competing in the provincial excellent student competition and winning first prize (equal to Huynh Thuc Khang High School), the school currently has no plan to reward teachers with achievements in training excellent students - teacher Phan Xuan Phan - Principal of the school shared.

In reality, schools are all administrative units, in addition to public and private schools that have additional revenues from tuition fees and other revenues, most of the remaining schools rely mainly on state funding. Therefore, the source of funding for Tet bonuses is almost non-existent. Schools that have Tet bonuses are due to savings from regular expenses, from extra teaching and learning funds, and from collective welfare funds (such as motorbike and bicycle parking). However, the number of schools that know how to "weigh and measure" like this is not much. Therefore, the general Tet bonus level for schools in the Education sector is low, which is understandable. Recently, responding to the press, Minister of Education and Training Pham Vu Luan also said: Tet bonuses for the Education sector are very difficult. Even in the Ministry, there is no source, no budget for Tet bonuses. He also added: According to regulations, 80% of the State budget allocated for education is to pay teachers and administrators' salaries, 20% for educational activities. But in reality, almost the entire budget allocated for schools is only enough to pay salaries, accounting for 80-90%, even 95%, so there is no money left to buy chalk, paper, pens, stationery...

To help teachers with their hardships, the Education Trade Union has planned to support teachers in difficult circumstances and those with serious illnesses every year. This year, according to the plan, the industry trade union and the Education Department trade union will visit about 300 cases in 20 districts, cities and towns. In addition, the Provincial Labor Federation will also visit and give gifts to 30 other particularly difficult cases. It is expected that each gift will be worth 300,000 VND. Mr. Tran Van Ky - Chairman of the Industry Trade Union, Department of Education and Training said: Low Tet bonuses are something that teachers have known for many years, so it is not too heavy. People do not consider them Tet bonuses but call them Tet gifts, mainly to encourage the spirit... Some schools, to create conditions for teachers to celebrate Tet, have proactively paid two months' salary in advance to teachers or promptly paid policies before Tet. Apparently, that is also the most effective way in difficult times like today.

My Ha