ĐẮK LẮK — Authorities in the Central Highlands province of Đắk Lắk on Sunday announced that a decision by Krông Pắk District to suspend the labour contracts of about 200 teachers in the locality would be halted.

A more “humane” solution would be sought, said Bùi Hồng Quý, Chief of Office of the provincial People’s Committee, adding that short-term and long-term solutions would be examined and made public later.

The Krông Pắk District’s People’s Committee announced the massive lay-off on March 9, in an attempt to correct the mistaken decisions by former and incumbent leaders of the district which led to a redundancy of more than 600 teachers in the locality. The decision, however, immediately sparked outrage and anxiety among the teachers in the face of sudden job losses.

A female teacher, whose eyes welled up with tears, told online newspaper Dân Trí on March 9 that she and other colleagues were all shocked and saddened to hear the decision.

Many teachers gathered at the district’s office on the same day asking for an explanation. Some even signed petitions to denounce the authority’s violations of labour contracts.

The teachers, who had been working for kindergartens, elementary and lower secondary schools in the district were recruited in the 2011-16 period on short-term labour contracts despite the fact that the district had not been permitted to recruit them.

The 200 teachers who were asked to stop working this time are those teaching subjects which the district is not allocated any recruitment quota.

The other 400 teachers who teach other subjects will have to sit for an examination later to vie for only 83 positions, meaning that 317 would lose their jobs.

On January 12, the Government Inspectorate (GI) announced an inspection result pointing out violations in the case and requested disciplinary action against responsible individuals, including director of the province’s Department of Home Affairs and chairman of Krông Pắk People’s Committee. The GI also asked the district authority to quickly solve the teacher redundancies which led to the district’s decision. — VNS