The draft Law on Teachers proposes exempting tuition fees from kindergarten to university for biological and legally adopted children of teachers while they are working, attracting public attention.
With this proposal, based on the age of the teacher and the estimated age of the child, the additional tuition fee that needs to be paid annually is more than 9,000 billion VND.
Ms. NTL, a primary school teacher in Ho Chi Minh City, said that on the evening of October 8, many colleagues and friends continuously shared information about the proposal to exempt tuition fees for teachers' children. As a professional, Ms. L. could not help but be surprised and feel hesitant about this "favorable" proposal.
Many people are concerned about the proposal to exempt tuition fees for teachers' children (Illustration: Hoai Nam).
Ms. L. revealed that in a group discussion with friends and acquaintances, someone said: "Teaching is also a profession, working like any other profession, like any other person. Why are teachers' children exempt from tuition fees, but other people's children are not?"
Ms. L's cousin said: "I work as a civil servant in the ward and also want my child to be exempted from tuition fees."
Ms. L. expressed that it is a real fact that many teachers find it difficult to live on their salaries. Low teacher salaries are something that needs to be improved to ensure the lives of teachers and especially to attract more good students to choose the teaching profession.
Quality and educational environment must start and be implemented by the teachers themselves, so the importance of the teaching profession to the development of society cannot be denied.
However, the female teacher said that what management agencies need to do is propose salary increases so that teachers have income commensurate with their work and efforts, not propose preferential treatment or priority.
The female teacher also expressed that during her teaching career, she met and worked with many parents and found that teachers' lives may not be rich, but they are much more stable than many other jobs.
Especially during the Covid-19 pandemic, she witnessed many parents losing their jobs, having their income cut, and having unstable jobs, which was extremely miserable. Meanwhile, her job still kept its salary, and her children's lives were still guaranteed.
"Just recently, my colleague's neighbor in Cu Chi had to take her child back to her hometown and leave it with an acquaintance so she could go work abroad. Because here, their salary is only 7-8 million VND, not enough to survive," she choked.
The vacant room next to Ms. L's colleague's house after her parents sent their children back to their hometown to work abroad (Photo: CL).
For Ms. L., teaching is like any other profession in society, working to earn money to support herself and her family. Teachers do not teach for free, do not do charity work, the job is not special, so there is no reason to prioritize children to be exempted from tuition fees.
Ms. L. expressed: "Honestly, every time I hear "teaching is a noble profession", I feel embarrassed. Teaching or other professions need to be paid fairly, not praised or favored."
Priority can both put pressure on teachers as if they are indebted and can create inequality and discrimination between professions.
Not to mention, using the budget for the children of people in this profession but not the children of people in other professions, according to Ms. L., is unfair.
According to her, when it is not possible to exempt tuition fees for all students, the cases that need to be exempted from tuition fees must be children in difficult circumstances, orphans or parents participating in especially dangerous missions.
Regarding the draft's proposal to exempt tuition fees for teachers' children, if approved, Ms. L. suggested that it should be added that beneficiaries can choose to "agree to receive" or "not receive".
"I don't accept" is the answer of this female primary school teacher. The answer does not represent anyone but she believes that many of her colleagues chose "disagree".
With more than 15 years of teaching, Mr. Nguyen Van Tuan, a teacher in Ho Chi Minh City, believes that the proposal to exempt tuition fees for teachers' children is humane but not really suitable for the teachers themselves.
To improve teachers' lives and attract talented people to the profession, there needs to be an appropriate salary policy. Increasing teachers' salaries is different from the mentality of "teachers' children are exempt from tuition fees".
With a second degree in psychology, Mr. Tuan added another perspective, like the holidays of October 20 and March 8 for women, they demand gifts, need to be prioritized in this and that because women are still too deprived and miserable. Because of the lack, they have to demand, because of the lack, they have to be prioritized.
According to Mr. Tuan, teachers need to be paid fairly and not wait for priority. If there is still a mindset that teaching needs to be prioritized, there will be many bad illusions about the profession.
"This is what teachers must avoid when choosing the teaching profession, to clearly identify that this is the job they choose, not teaching with the illusion that they are bestowing favors, sacrificing, and that others must be grateful to them...", said Mr. Tuan.
Teachers in Ho Chi Minh City in a professional exchange program (Photo: Hoai Nam).
In addition to the above proposal, the noteworthy thing in the draft Law on Teachers is the salary policy and preferential allowances for the profession.
According to the draft, the salary scale of public preschool and primary school teachers will be adjusted to suit the nature and complexity of the work for teachers at all levels.
At the same time, teachers' preferential allowances are expected to be adjusted to increase by 10% for preschool level and by 5% for primary level.
The additional cost to pay teachers' salaries will be about 1,068 billion VND/month, meaning the budget must add 12,816 billion VND annually.
Source: https://dantri.com.vn/giao-duc/de-xuat-mien-hoc-phi-cho-con-giao-vien-co-giao-o-tphcm-xin-khong-nhan-20241009120751227.htm
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