Why is it necessary to classify preschool teachers as a hard job?

OVERTIME WORK, MANY RISKS, HARD WORK

Recently, Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son said: "The Government is adjusting the Social Insurance Law and in its comments on the draft law, the Ministry of Education and Training has officially proposed to include preschool teachers in the group of heavy and hazardous jobs. Preschool teachers need to have a retirement regime in the group of heavy laborers, women should still be at the age of 55 but with guaranteed income and regime so that there is no disadvantage".

Preschool teachers have to both raise and ensure that all children develop, pay attention, and take care of each child, so it's very stressful.

This proposal received the consensus of the kindergarten teachers themselves. Ms. Le Thi Tuyet Huong, working at Thanh Nua Kindergarten, a school in a border commune of Dien Bien, said that according to regulations, kindergarten teachers work 8 hours a day, but in reality, they often work at school from 10 to 11 hours a day, from early morning to late afternoon, so they do not have much time to take care of their families. Due to the lack of teachers, there are classes where one teacher has to take care of more than 30 children.

Ms. Ly Thi Trinh Nguyen, teacher at Hoa Mi Kindergarten, Long My Town (Hau Giang), also said that although there is a regulation of 40 hours/week, in reality, kindergarten teachers work almost double that, arriving at 6:30 am until 5 pm or even 6 pm, when parents pick up their children, the workday ends. At noon, they also have to watch the children eat, take care of their sleep, and prepare teaching aids. On average, kindergarten teachers work from 10 to 12 hours a day.

On the other hand, the work of a preschool teacher is very specific, both raising and teaching, ensuring that all children develop, having to focus on and take care of each child, very stressful. A preschool teacher is also the one who has to directly handle common situations of young children such as fussiness, poor appetite, signs of autism... A preschool teacher is almost an expert in nutrition, early intervention, psychological counseling... playing many roles.

In addition, the job position of a kindergarten teacher also faces many dangers and risks. Working in an environment with many young children, teachers must accept that they often get sick, such as colds, and can spread the disease to family members. At the same time, there are also cases of parents physically and mentally abusing kindergarten teachers.

Preschool teachers work in an environment with many young children, and must accept that they often get sick, such as colds, and can pass them on to family members.

A LOT OF GVMN CANNOT STAY IN THE PROFESSION

The latest statistics from the Ministry of Education and Training show that in the past 3 school years, more than 40,000 teachers have quit their jobs, of which preschool teachers account for the largest number. Many opinions from preschool teachers themselves indicate that with the nature of the job being very hard and stressful, but with the current 35% incentive according to the profession, it is very low compared to the effort they put in, and the income is not enough to cover their living expenses, so recently many preschool teachers have not been able to stick with the job, quit their jobs or switched to other professions.

Ms. Le Thi Tuyet Huong also pointed out: "Although the salary regime of GVMN has been paid attention to, it is still not commensurate with the time and effort we are doing, and does not meet the minimum needs of life. Currently, the retirement age of GVMN is the same as other professions under normal working conditions. However, the nature of GVMN's work is quite heavy, so we think the current retirement age of over 55 years old is not suitable."

Similarly, Ms. Duong Thi Thanh Hong, a teacher at Kindergarten No. 1 (Ha Tinh City, Ha Tinh Province), expressed that according to the new salary regulations, the salary coefficient of a grade 2 kindergarten teacher is only equal to the salary coefficient of a grade 3 primary school teacher. "My salary is level 5 but my salary coefficient is 3.65, while the salary of a grade 2 primary school teacher at level 5 has a coefficient of 5.36. Thus, the salary level between the two levels is too different, even though we are also well-trained, with college and university degrees," Ms. Hong said.

Lack of teachers affects teaching according to new program

The Quang Ngai Department of Education and Training said that entering the 2023-2024 school year, the entire province lacked nearly 1,200 teachers. The teacher shortage in Quang Ngai has occurred in recent years. Meanwhile, in the 2023-2024 school year, the province will continue to implement the new general education program for grades 4, 8 and 11. However, the teacher shortage will affect teaching according to the new education program.

To "put out the fire", localities in the province are looking for ways to contract teachers to teach. According to the recommendations of the provincial education sector, if a place has enough contract teachers to teach the subjects, they will teach 2 sessions/day. If there are not enough contract teachers, the school will flexibly and temporarily assign more teaching hours but reduce the number of sessions/week.

The Department of Home Affairs of Quang Ngai has sent an official dispatch requesting the Provincial People's Committee to have a plan to recruit teachers in 2023 with 1,192 positions, including: 283 preschool teachers, 528 primary school teachers, 268 secondary school teachers and 113 high school teachers. In the process of recruiting teachers, the province will apply Decree 140 on policies to attract and create a source of staff from excellent graduates and young scientists.

Pham Anh

With the nature of the preschool teacher profession, the vast majority of this level of education are female, so most teachers believe that if the retirement age for preschool teachers is extended to 60 years old, teachers will not be able to stick with the profession. Many teachers said that when they are young and healthy, teachers are still very worried about the risks that may occur in the process of caring for children, so when they are older, this risk becomes more present, not to mention the psychological factors of children, who like to participate in fun activities, dancing and singing with young, agile teachers. Therefore, if the retirement age is extended, both preschool teachers and children will be at a disadvantage.

Ms. Tran Thi Minh Hong, Principal of Hoa Sen Kindergarten (Phu Ly City, Ha Nam), believes that if we do not continue to pay attention to the teaching staff, especially at the preschool level, the problem of teacher shortage will be more difficult in the future. Currently, many provinces and cities do not have enough teachers to recruit, especially public schools.

Not only teachers, many opinions say that the nursing staff also need to be given due attention. A nurse at a public kindergarten in Hanoi said that despite nearly 10 years of work, her salary after deducting social insurance is only over 3 million VND/month, while the salary of workers is also double the minimum, making the school staff feel sad.

In kindergarten, childcare is as important as education. Teachers are responsible for receiving and delivering food, preparing, processing, and delivering food to classes, helping children with lunch, and washing dishes. In the early afternoon, they continue to prepare dinner for children after they wake up. Teachers are constantly exposed to toxic gases, heat, etc., which is very tiring and affects their health.

Due to the nature of the profession, most teachers wish not to extend their retirement age to 60.

THE MINISTRY WILL PERSISTENTLY RECOMMEND

Before the new school year, the Minister of Education and Training spent a lot of time sharing about the regime and policies for preschool teachers. In addition to affirming that the Ministry of Education and Training will persistently propose to maintain the retirement age for preschool teachers, Mr. Nguyen Kim Son also made a number of proposals to improve the income and life of preschool teachers within the resources available. "Initially, the Ministry of Education and Training and the Ministry of Home Affairs have reached an agreement, planning to increase the preferential allowance for preschool teachers by 10% and for primary school teachers by 5%. The remaining issue is to reach an agreement with the Ministry of Finance, report to the Government and ministries and branches. Hopefully this will be agreed soon, although the number is small, if it can be implemented, it will be a source of encouragement for preschool teachers".

The head of the education and training sector also shared the reality that the working hours of preschool teachers are currently longer than the prescribed time, because children come early and leave late according to their parents' working hours. This is also one of the reasons that creates pressure for preschool teachers, so in the coming time, the Ministry of Education and Training will continue to consider and pay attention to the remuneration for the long working hours of preschool teachers.

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