A kindergarten class in the northern province of Điện Biên. —VNA/VNS Photo Xuân Tiến

HÀ NỘI — Minister of Education and Training Nguyễn Kim Sơn on Tuesday held a hybrid meeting with teachers from 63 cities and localities across the country 

Among more than 6,500 queries sent in from educators, many raised concerns about the compensation, allowance and retirement age for preschool teachers. 

Lê Thị Tuyết Hường, an educator from the border commune Thanh Nưa of Điện Biên Province, said in the meeting that, while the official working time for preschool teachers is eight hours per day, they often work 10 to 11 hours per day, leaving them no time to take care of their own family. 

They usually have to go to class early to prepare for the day, and stay behind late until all of their students are picked up by their parents. 

Due to a human resources shortage, one kindergarten teacher can be responsible for up to 30 children in a class. 

Despite these challenges, the average salary for this group of educators remains modest, with new teachers receiving approximately VNĐ5 million (US$210) a month. 

In the more remote areas, preschool teachers also have to face inadequate clean water, electricity and infrastructure. 

In extremely disadvantaged regions of Điện Biên Province, several schools are dozens of kilometres away from the central towns, transportation is not easy and can even pose fatal risks, especially in the rainy season, Hường said. 

However, there is currently little support for teachers in these locations to go to the central campus for monthly meetings and activities related to their job. 

Teacher Dương Thị Thanh Hồng from Hà Tĩnh City pointed out a considerable gap between the salary, calculated based on the minimum wage and salary coefficients, of a preschool and a primary school teacher with the same years of experience. 

She said that this gap is not reasonable given that each stage of education has its own challenges, while preschool teachers also hold higher education qualifications and must keep an eye on children all the time to ensure their safety. 

Concerns were also raised on the plan to increase the retirement age of kindergarten teachers to 60, citing the nature of the job is unfit for the change. 

Most educators recommended that the retirement age of kindergarten teachers should be 55.

Minister of Education and Training Nguyễn Kim Sơn at the hybrid meeting with 700,000 teachers across the country on Tuesday. — VNA/VNS Photo Thanh Tùng

Acknowledging the challenges that preschool teachers face, minister Sơn said that the Party Central Committee’s Resolution No 29, which aims for a comprehensive innovation of the education sector, prioritises compensation for teachers.

However, implementation requires the involvement of multiple ministries, departments and agencies, he added.

He said that the Ministry of Education and Training (MoET) and the Ministry of Home Affairs has worked together and agreed on increasing the allowance for preschool and primary teachers. 

The decision is currently waiting for approval from the Ministry of Finance and finally the government. 

Minister Sơn that the number of public employees in the education sector accounts for more than 70 per cent of the total public employees in the country, therefore every adjustment requires careful calculations of resources. 

Noting that several localities have had to mobilise resources from non-public sectors to ensure overtime pay for kindergarten teachers, he said that this will be one of the areas that the ministry will look into in the near future. 

The MoET has also proposed classifying preschool teaching hard labour in the amendment to the Law on Social Insurance, which will provide the basis to adjust the retirement age for this group of educators. 

In the meeting, the education minister and delegates also discussed national high school graduation exams, reducing ineffective contests, addressing school violence and bullying, and making adjustments to the 2018 general education curriculum. 

Minister Sơn emphasises that the new curriculum is crucial and a step forward for the education sector, with teachers and students no longer entirely depending on textbooks but using them as materials for learning. 

This means that educators also need to renew themselves and their methods of utilising textbooks. 

He added: “Not all questions are answered today, nor all the policy bottlenecks will be cleared tomorrow, but I believe that now we know what needs fixing.

“The ministry will work to ensure development in both public and private education for equal access for the people.” — VNS