A teacher and her students in Mèo Vạc Town’s Primary School in the northern mountainous province of Hà Giang, one of the most impoverished localities in Việt Nam. Photo vietnamnet.vn

HÀ NỘI — Schools across the country were trying to balance their spending to give gifts to encourage teachers during the upcoming Lunar New Year.

Nguyễn Thanh Sơn, principal of Thượng Phùng Primary School, Mèo Vạc District, in the northern mountainous province of Hà Giang, said that with limited funding in remote and mountainous provinces, the school can only support teachers with a Tết gift worth VNĐ500,000.

“It is true that in remote provinces like ours, schools have no additional source of revenue other than the local education budget,” said Sơn.

“To give Tết gifts to teachers, schools must balance their savings sources.”

Nguyễn Thị Nga, vice principal of Mèo Vạc Town’s Primary School, said in that over Tết, the school will give each teacher a gift package including cakes, candies and drinks worth VNĐ500,000.

Nga said that to have this small gift for Tết holiday for teachers, the school board also had to save expenses for the whole year.

All senior teachers and educational administrators like Sơn and Nga, as well as young teachers who have just joined the school, understand that the school's funding source was not available.

For teachers who return to their hometown during Tết holiday, the cost of transportation is also a concern.

Hồ Tuấn Anh, principal of Quỳnh Phương Secondary School, Hoàng Mai Town, Nghệ An Province said: "There is no regulation on Tết bonuses for teachers."

“However, according to traditional custom, at the end of the year, more or less, public schools often try to have a little Tết gift to encourage teachers after a year of work.”

To have Tết gifts, according to Hồ Tuấn Anh, public schools in remote areas often tried to save from the regular expenses of the whole year, the school's welfare sources, fee-based tutoring activities, and the trade union's source.

For schools that have sources of revenue from services such as canteens and parking areas, it was easier.

Principal Tuấn Anh said that from the beginning of the school year, he and the school’s trade union had to coordinate to develop internal spending regulations and calculate so that at the end of the year, they could have surplus as Tết gifts for teachers from VNĐ1-1. 2 million.

"This amount is not high compared to other industries’ Tết bonus for employees, but compared to public schools, this is a great effort of our school."

In public schools in the city, Tết bonuses for teachers were higher, mainly from saving internal expenditures of each school.

Lương Du Mai, principal of Cách Mạng Tháng Tám Secondary School, District 10, HCM City said that currently, the school's management board was waiting for the city’s Education Department to approve this Tết bonus.

To have a year-end bonus for teachers, schools must save from the allocated State budget, Mai said.

Mai said: “This year the Tết bonus will be worth about a month's salary. What I wish for is that this expenditure will be approved soon.”

Lê Thanh Xuân, Principal of Phan Đăng Lưu High School, Bình Thạnh District, HCM City said the school has completed the year-end financial processes to submit to the Ministry of Finance, hoping to have Tết bonuses for teachers soon.

In the system of private schools, the management board also tried to arrange a stable Tết bonus for teachers.

Nguyễn Quang Tùng, principal of a private high school in Hà Nội, said that despite many difficulties after the COVID-19 pandemic, the school's Board of Directors was still determined to arrange Tết bonuses for teachers like in previous years.

“It is expected that the average Tết bonus for teachers is about VNĐ15 million; for employees, it will be slightly lower,” Tùng said.

"This bonus level may be higher than that of some other public schools, but compared to other professions, it is still low, and completely worth the dedication and effort of the teachers.”

“Because in private schools, pressure is high due to heavy workload, working time can last until night or over to holidays.” VNS