On the morning of November 9, the National Assembly listened to the presentation and review report of the draft Law on Teachers, which included new points on teacher policies such as salary policy, retirement regime...

Some new points prioritize teachers

Presenting the Government's proposal, Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son said that compared to current regulations in related laws such as the Law on Civil Servants, the Law on Education, the Law on Higher Education, the Law on Vocational Education, the Labor Code, the draft Law on Teachers has a number of new points.

The draft Law gives the education sector the initiative in recruiting and using teachers. In particular, the Ministry of Education and Training and the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs are the agencies in charge of developing a strategy for the total number of teachers under their management, submitting it to competent authorities for decision; coordinating the number of teachers in public educational institutions according to the assigned number. Education management agencies or educational institutions take the lead in recruiting teachers.

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Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son. Photo: QH

Notably, the salary policy for teachers is prioritized. In particular, the basic salary according to the teacher salary scale is ranked highest in the administrative career salary scale system; teachers are entitled to preferential allowances for their profession and other allowances depending on the nature of their work and the region as prescribed by law.

Teachers continue to receive seniority allowances until the salary policy under Resolution 27 is implemented. Preschool teachers; teachers working in particularly difficult areas such as ethnic minority areas, mountainous areas, coastal areas and islands; teachers in specialized schools and other specialized schools; teachers implementing inclusive education; teachers who are ethnic minorities and teachers in certain specific professions are given priority in salary and allowance regimes compared to other teachers.

Teachers who are recruited and have their salaries increased by one level in the administrative career salary scale system.

Teachers working in ethnic minority areas, mountainous areas, border areas, islands and areas with especially difficult socio-economic conditions, etc. are entitled to a number of other support policies such as collective accommodation or renting public housing, being paid for train fares during annual leave, personal leave to visit family, etc.

The State has policies to attract highly qualified people, talented people, excellent graduates, young scientists, and people with special gifts to participate in recruitment as teachers.

Another noteworthy content is that the retirement age of teachers has its own regulations suitable to the characteristics of professional activities.

Accordingly, teachers in preschools, if they wish, can retire at a lower age but not more than 5 years older than the regulation and will not have their pension rate deducted due to early retirement.

Teachers with the title of professor, associate professor or doctoral degree and teachers working in specific specialized fields and sectors are entitled to retirement benefits at an older age.

Timely institutionalization of Party policies

Examining the above contents, Chairman of the Committee for Culture and Education Nguyen Dac Vinh agreed with the assignment of more authority and responsibility to the education sector in recruiting teachers.

The review agency basically agrees with the provisions on working regime, mobilization, secondment, transfer and evaluation of teachers as in the draft Law. However, there are opinions suggesting to consider and carefully evaluate the impact on the time of teachers' regime retention when being mobilized.

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Chairman of the Committee on Culture and Education Nguyen Dac Vinh. Photo: QH

Regarding salaries and allowances for teachers, Mr. Vinh said that the Committee on Culture and Education agreed with the provisions in the draft Law and considered this important and necessary content to promptly institutionalize the Party's policies.

The review agency also approved the policies of priority, support, and attraction of teachers as stipulated in the draft Law. However, there were opinions suggesting to study and properly implement the spirit of the Party's resolution on reforming salary policy; consider regulating salary policy for teachers in the non-public sector...

Regarding the retirement regime for teachers, the review agency agreed to stipulate that teachers in preschools can retire at a lower age (no more than 5 years) than the provisions of the Labor Code and will not have their pension rate deducted due to early retirement. However, there are opinions suggesting that it is necessary to carefully assess the impact on resources to ensure the implementation of this policy.

The draft Law on Teachers consists of 9 chapters and 50 articles to specify 5 policies in the law-making proposal approved by the Government in Resolution No. 95 dated July 7, 2023 of the Government, including: Identification of teachers; standards and titles of teachers; recruitment, use and working regime of teachers; training, fostering, treatment and honoring of teachers; state management of teachers.

Regulations that teachers can retire before age 55 will create privileges and benefits

Regulations that teachers can retire before age 55 will create privileges and benefits

The Vice Chairman of the National Assembly suggested reviewing the regulation that "teachers can retire before the age of 55 but will not have their pension deducted". This is because such a regulation would create "privileges and benefits" and contradict the recently passed Law on Social Insurance.
The government requires employment criteria and preferential policies for teachers.

The government requires employment criteria and preferential policies for teachers.

In the proposal to develop the Law on Teachers, the Government requires designing policies in the direction of having standards and criteria suitable for the role and job position of teachers, and having appropriate preferential, rewarding and honoring policies.