That is the sharing of Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son about the policy to increase the attractiveness of the teaching profession, so that teachers can feel secure in their work and focus on developing their expertise and career in the current period.

5 breakthroughs in the draft Law on Teachers

Currently, 1.6 million teachers are working in educational institutions nationwide with a variety of levels, qualifications, and workplaces: from preschool to university, from primary training to postgraduate training; from favorable areas to areas with particularly difficult socio-economic conditions; from rural to urban areas, from delta areas to islands and borders. If passed, the Draft Law on Teachers will be a consistent, effective and efficient legal framework for creating and developing the teaching staff. In particular, the subject of state management of teachers is emphasized on the responsibility of the education sector and is specifically decentralized from the ministry to departments, offices and educational institutions.

One of the breakthroughs in the draft Law on Teachers is the strong innovation in state management of teachers, as shared by Minister Nguyen Kim Son, "shifting the focus from personnel management to human resource management". Director of the Department of Teachers and Educational Managers (Ministry of Education and Training) Vu Minh Duc informed that the Ministry of Education and Training plans to stipulate 5 breakthrough contents on state management in the draft Law on Teachers. That is, the recruitment of teachers for public preschool and general education institutions is implemented uniformly nationwide. The mobilization and secondment of teachers is not only carried out within the district and provincial levels but also between different provinces/cities and between public and non-public educational institutions. Strengthening conditions to protect teachers, helping teachers work in a safe environment, and being motivated to develop their careers. Strengthen the role of educational management agencies in selecting and appointing good teachers to become educational management staff and good teachers to hold leadership positions in educational management agencies. Focus on developing policies to support and attract teachers.

Mr. Duc believes that the above conditions are important elements to contribute to creating a safe working environment, where teachers are protected and guaranteed material and spiritual conditions, and social security conditions.

From there, teachers can work with peace of mind, focus on professional work, continuously develop their careers; be duly recognized for their achievements and contributions to maintain their motivation to strive, be dedicated to their profession, improve their professional capacity and skills; have equal opportunities for career advancement; be honored by society commensurate with their professional status in society, and foster pride and honor in the "profession" of teaching.

Therefore, "becoming a teacher" is automatically the aspiration of talented and capable people, a natural attraction that increases the number of people who want to become teachers, promotes and improves the quality of teacher training, increases the effectiveness of teacher recruitment...

No leveling

From July 1, teachers will no longer be entitled to a number of allowances, including seniority allowances for teachers, position allowances, allowances for party work, political and social organizations, and hazardous and dangerous allowances. Meanwhile, the increase in some allowances has led to a significant increase in the actual income of young teachers who have just entered the profession. However, for teachers with seniority, the increase is not sure whether it can compensate for the approximately 30% of the salary that has been abolished, which is a concern for many teachers.

Minister of Home Affairs Pham Thi Thanh Tra said that what we most expect when reforming salaries is that the education and health sectors will achieve the goal of increasing their salaries. At that time, society will be excited, civil servants, especially teachers and doctors, will be excited. However, resources for implementing salary reform are prepared until 2026, so after 2026, the Minister said that if we do not make efforts to increase revenue and save expenses, it will be very difficult to continue implementing new salary payments.

Furthermore, it is proposed that teachers be given the highest priority in the administrative salary scale system along with the health, police and military sectors. However, according to experts' calculations, with 1.6 million teachers, of which the number of cadres, civil servants and public employees receiving salaries from the education sector accounts for 70% of the total number of civil servants and public employees nationwide, teachers' salaries only need to increase a certain amount, the salary fund will also be pushed up and the risk of a salary fund collapse may occur.

Therefore, in addition to efforts to increase salaries and allowances for teachers, many opinions suggest that it is impossible to increase salaries equally. According to Dr. Nguyen Tung Lam - Vice President of the Vietnam Association of Educational Psychology, there should be a separate priority policy for teachers in remote areas, border areas, islands, teachers in specialized schools, and teachers who teach autistic children. These are the subjects that need more attention because the work is special and more difficult in terms of teaching conditions, students, etc.

Comprehensive care for teachers' lives

In fact, the Party, Government and localities have paid attention to supporting public housing for teachers, especially in remote areas. However, there are still many places where material conditions are lacking, there is a lack of classrooms and public housing for teachers. At Lam Ca Primary School, Dinh Lap District, Lang Son Province, this is a difficult mountainous district, with very poor living conditions. There are teachers who live 40km away from the school and have to travel back and forth every day, facing countless hardships in the rain and sun. Teachers who live too far away have to rent houses from local people to stay because the school does not have public housing for teachers.

According to statistics, in Quang Tri province, there are nearly 1,500 cadres and teachers working in remote areas with extremely poor living conditions, especially housing. Many teachers have to stay at local people's houses or in temporary, degraded, and severely damaged dormitories that need to be repaired promptly. The Provincial People's Council issued Resolution 168 on December 9, 2021 approving the Project on building public accommodation for teachers in disadvantaged areas for the period 2021 - 2025 with 399 rooms, worth 59.8 billion VND, of which 50% of the capital is mobilized from socialized sources. However, to complete this goal, it is necessary to continue to join hands of authorities and organizations at all levels to soon turn the dreams of teachers in remote areas into reality.

The policy of supporting tuition fees for teachers' children is welcomed and supported by many teachers and people. This is not only an economic aid but also a great recognition and encouragement, helping teachers feel more secure in their teaching work. Even for many teachers in the city, paying monthly tuition fees for 2 children to go to school also takes up a large part of their meager salary, so many teachers have to work hard to ensure their lives.

In addition, the inclusion of the annual medical examination policy in the draft Law on Teachers is also considered a significant step forward, helping to protect the health of teachers, especially those working in remote areas where medical conditions are inadequate. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Mau Banh - Chairman of the Vietnam Association of Retired Teachers, acknowledged that comprehensive care and attention for teachers from salary, benefits, working conditions to health care, tuition support for teachers' children... are practical policies to help teachers reduce some of their worries about accommodation, their children's education as well as their own health so that they can focus wholeheartedly on teaching.

“Teachers’ salaries are given the highest priority compared to the administrative salary scale system. If this becomes a reality, it would be wonderful. In the immediate future, in the context of many difficulties in our country, every small but meaningful concern will help teachers to be confident in their profession, to stick with the career of educating people that they have chosen with all their faith and love,” said Prof. Dr. Nguyen Mau Banh.

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From July 1, teachers will no longer be entitled to a number of allowances, including seniority allowances for teachers, position allowances, allowances for party work, political and social organizations, and hazardous and dangerous allowances. Meanwhile, the increase in some allowances has led to a significant increase in the actual income of young teachers who have just entered the profession. However, for teachers with seniority, the increase is not sure whether it can compensate for the approximately 30% of the salary that has been abolished, which is a concern for many teachers.