“How high is the highest teacher salary?”

High salary must come with quality

Speaking at the Conference of National Assembly Deputies working full-time to give opinions on some contents of the draft law submitted to the National Assembly at the 9th Session, Delegate Hoang Van Cuong (Hanoi delegation) expressed his agreement with the regulation in the draft Law on Teachers that teachers' salaries are ranked highest in the administrative career salary scale system, but he also noted that this content has been in Resolution 29 of the Central Committee for more than 10 years and if the regulation as in the draft is still difficult to put into practice.

Delegate Hoang Van Cuong (Hanoi delegation)

“The salary scale has grades, within grades there are sub-grades, and then there are steps. So what does it mean to say the highest rank, is it in the highest grade or the highest level? The general regulations cannot be used to rank, and are still just slogans,” Mr. Hoang Van Cuong raised the issue and suggested more specific regulations.

Delegate Duong Khac Mai (Dak Nong delegation) also expressed his high approval when teachers' salaries were ranked highest in the salary scale system along with many other incentives and allowances. However, to effectively implement, along with high salaries, attention must be paid to the quality and role of the teaching staff.

"Along with the salary characteristics, it is necessary to improve the team of teachers who are good at their profession, meet the requirements of ethics, and are dedicated to their profession" - Mr. Duong Khac Mai emphasized and proposed that the Government have a roadmap to review and improve the quality of the teaching staff.

Another issue that Delegate Hoang Van Cuong expressed concern about was the regulation prohibiting forcing students to participate in extra classes because "not all forcing students to take extra classes is bad."

He gave an example of many dedicated teachers who, when they see that their students are weak and cannot keep up with their friends, ask them to stay late to study extra. These students are often not willing to study extra, so they need to be "forced". This behavior of teachers is not only not bad but also humane and only occurs in dedicated teachers. He suggested that only the behavior of forcing students to study extra for personal gain should be banned.

According to the delegate, in reality, many teachers do not force extra classes but still have students taking them and students and their families voluntarily write applications. Therefore, it is necessary to prohibit teachers from charging students for extra classes that they are directly teaching, even if they write applications voluntarily, it is still a disguise.

Delegate Hoang Van Cuong also stated that training and development is mandatory for teachers, not something they like or dislike, otherwise they will lack updates, become outdated, and will not be able to guide learners. Educational institutions are responsible for allocating funds to conduct training and development for teachers.

Many teachers just want to retire at 55.

The draft regulation allows teachers in preschools, if they wish, to retire at a lower age but not more than 5 years and the percentage of pension benefits when retiring early is not reduced if they have paid social insurance for 20 years or more.

Delegate Mai Van Hai (Thanh Hoa delegation) said that the previous draft did not mention 20 years of social insurance contributions. He suggested considering because the Social Insurance Law stipulates 15 years, while here it stipulates 20 years.

“I went to meet voters and no one wanted to work any more, the teacher just wanted to retire at 55. What regulations should be put in place so that preschool teachers find it easier to apply for early retirement?” said Mr. Mai Van Hai.

Delegate Mai Van Hai

According to delegate Le Thanh Hoan (Thanh Hoa delegation), Clause 3, Article 169 of the Labor Code stipulates: Workers with reduced working capacity; working in especially arduous, toxic, or dangerous jobs; working in arduous, toxic, or dangerous jobs; working in areas with particularly difficult socio-economic conditions can retire at a lower age but not more than 5 years older than the prescribed age and the Government will provide detailed regulations.

Accordingly, if the Government believes that teaching at preschools is a difficult profession, the Government can completely regulate it according to its authority.

In the spirit that the National Assembly only regulates matters under its authority, it is proposed to remove the provision in Clause 2, Article 28 and there is no need to amend or supplement Article 66 of the 2024 Law on Social Insurance, as this law has not yet come into effect (the Law on Social Insurance will not come into effect until July 1, 2025).

Source: https://vov.vn/chinh-tri/luong-giao-vien-xep-cao-nhat-la-cao-nhu-the-nao-post1163718.vov