Every time Tet comes, teachers like us are both happy and worried. Happy because we have more time to rest after a year of hard work, to be with our children and family to make up for the busy work.
However, we are less happy and more worried. Worried because teachers' salaries have to be stretched here and there to cover daily expenses, and during Tet, we don't know where to get all the money from grandparents on both sides and children in the house. Sometimes I wish teachers also got bonuses and 13th month salary like other professions so that Tet would be complete.
Teaching does not have salary or Tet bonus like other professions.
'Don't teachers deserve a Tet bonus?'
I have been a secondary school teacher for nearly twenty Tet holidays but have never received a Tet bonus or 13th month salary, something that people in other professions happily show off at the end of the year.
When Tet came, my friends had a chance to sit together and I found out that everyone had received a bonus. Some received a few million, some received tens of millions, and some even received hundreds of millions from foreign companies, more than my entire year’s salary. When my friends asked me, I just smiled and said, “I’m a teacher.”
At times like these, I can’t help but feel sorry for myself. The issue is not the number, but the concern and sharing. Everyone says that teaching is the noblest of all professions, so it’s not good for us teachers to talk about our meager salaries all the time.
My colleagues and I understand that, so in difficult times, we all encourage each other to balance our spending and everything will fall into place. Indeed, we are just human beings with basic needs that need to be met and the struggle for food, clothing, rice, and money is always heavy on our shoulders.
It is a noble profession, but if we don’t have money, no one will sell us rice, meat or vegetables on credit or give us a discount. That shows that money is really important, especially on occasions when spending needs are high like Tet, money is even more essential.
Even though we have saved and cut down on everything possible during Tet, there are things that we cannot skip, such as gifts for grandparents on both sides. We work all year, and on normal days, we can ignore them, but how can we not give our parents some gifts during Tet? Or like buying new clothes for our children. Even though children now have no shortage of clothes like in the past, new clothes are still the joy of Tet for children. We cannot let our children lose this small joy because of the difficulties of adults.
All of these things require money to be able to do. Something that we teachers are not rich in, and when Tet comes, we are even more poor, especially in years when salaries are paid after the Lunar New Year like this year, the difficulty seems to multiply.
The Tet bonus is like an encouragement for workers after a year of hard work. That is why I feel even more sad when hearing my friends talk about this amount of money. Don’t we teachers deserve a Tet bonus for the effort we put in after a year of hard work?
Wish for a “13th month salary”
Many teachers dare not return to their hometowns.
Although I don't have a Tet bonus, I still feel luckier than many friends and colleagues who work far from home. I don't have much money for Tet, so I save up and buy less, but I can still be warm and happy with my family. Some of my colleagues who teach away from home all year want to go home for Tet, but when they look at the salary they receive, they hesitate for a long time before deciding whether to go home or not.
One year, you texted me saying you wanted to go home but the travel expenses, gifts, and other things for Tet were too expensive so you had to stay and wait for the summer break. If only you had a Tet bonus, that would be great. Reading the message, I felt sad for you. Although the Tet bonus was small, if we teachers had it, it would help share some of the difficulties in the days leading up to the New Year.
Every year, when Tet comes, to earn extra money, my colleagues and I have to do many part-time jobs after work, some sell fruits and cakes, some sell local specialties. Our Tet business is good in some years, helping us to spend quite a bit during Tet, but there are also years when it is so bad that we can't even break even, let alone make a profit.
Although I know that Tet bonus is something very strange for our teaching profession, I hope that in the near future teachers will also receive those bonuses like other professions. This year-end bonus will help teachers like me have a warmer Tet or like my friend, I can return home to my family to gather for a reunion dinner on the first day of the year without having to worry too much about money.
Hoang Nhan Tam (Teacher)
Source
Comment (0)