Teachers suffer delayed pay, low Tet bonus

While employees at many businesses are happily enjoying their Tet bonuses, most teachers and civil servants in the education sector have been given a very modest amount for Tet. Worse, in many areas, salaries have also been delayed. This was claimed by Mr. Trinh Thang Manh, head of the Social Policy Division under the Vietnam Education Trade Union, in an interview with Sai Gon Giai Phong. SGGP:What do you think about the small Tet bonus that teachers have received this year, which is as little as VND30,000 ($1.7) for pre-school teachers, while civil servants in other sectors receive much higher bonuses? Mr. Manh: The payment of bonus to teachers depends on the financial ability of local authorities and schools, a Tet bonus is not an expense covered by the budget and is not compulsory. Therefore, in many areas, the rate of bonus is very low, particularly for pre-school and primary teachers. In cities, a school can pay a VND300,000-500,000 ($17-29) bonus, but in rural and mountainous areas, the rate may be only VND50,000-100,000. For vocational schools, colleges and universities, as they have a larger source of revenue, they can pay bonuses of VND2-8 million ($114-458) per teacher, even VND10 million, ten times as much than high schools, pre-schools and primary schools. What has the Education Trade Union done to help ease difficulties suffered by teachers in their daily lives? The Education Trade Union could not afford to give assistance to all teachers. Their income mainly depends on budgets from local…