VietNam Society: teachers

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Thursday, January 13, 2011

Teachers with long service to receive higher allowance

Teachers with 40 years' experience will receive a seniority allowance equal to 40 percent of their salary, under a decree drafted by the Ministry of Education and Training.

The ministry would submit the draft to the Government this week, said Tran Kim Tu, deputy director of the ministry's human resources department.

The beneficiaries of the allowances are teachers at State schools with salaries based on Government's Decree 204/2004. This decree regulates monthly salaries for State employees, teachers administrating at State schools and teachers who retire after March 31, 1993.

Tu said professors and teachers who had worked for 40 years were mostly associate professors and doctors who would keep teaching until they were 70 years old.

Under the draft decree, teachers with five years' experience will be paid an allowance equal to 5 percent of their salary, to increase by 1 percentage point for each additional year.

"Funds for the allowances will come from school incomes and the State budget," said Tu.

The allowance will be paid monthly with the salary.

The seniority allowance for teachers was implemented in 1988, but was abrogated in 1993 and replaced by the allowance for present teachers.

The new decree, if approved, would have a major impact on teachers because the allowances would continue to be paid after retirement, on top of their pensions, said Tu, whereas the present regulations only provided allowances for working teachers.

Nguyen Xuan Dung, a retired deputy principal of the Thinh Quang Primary School in Hanoi, said that with 37 years of working experience she received a pension of 3 million VND (157 USD) a month.

While she was working, Dung had an allowance of 35 percent of her salary, but it had stopped when she retired in 2007.

"I will be happy if I get a seniority allowance on top of my pension because it will help reduce my financial difficulties," she said./.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Teachers with long service to receive higher allowance

HA NOI — Teachers with 40 years' experience will receive a seniority allowance equal to 40 per cent of their salary, under a decree drafted by the Ministry of Education and Training.

The ministry would submit the draft to the Government this week, said Tran Kim Tu, deputy director of the ministry's human resources department.

Tu said professors and teachers who had worked for 40 years were mostly associate professors and doctors who would keep teaching until they were 70 years old.

Under the draft decree, teachers with five years' experience will be paid an allowance equal to 5 per cent of their salary, to increase by 1 percentage point for each additional year.

"Funds for the allowances will come from school incomes and the State budget," said Tu.

The allowance will be paid monthly with the salary.

The seniority allowance for teachers was implemented in 1988, but was abrogated in 1993 and replaced by the allowance for present teachers.

Nguyen Xuan Dung, a retired deputy principal of the Thinh Quang Primary School in Ha Noi, said that with 37 years of working experience she received a pension of VND3 million (US$157) a month.

While she was working, Dung had an allowance of 35 per cent of her salary, but it had stopped when she retired in 2007.

"I will be happy if I get a seniority allowance on top of my pension because it will help reduce my financial difficulties," she said. — VNS

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Teachers pay for class materials from salaries

A kindergarten teacher plays with children at No 1 Primary School in Hai Phong City's Hong Bang District . Poorly paid kindergarten teachers are having to fork out for teaching aids because schools lack the necessary funds to properly equip classrooms. – VNS Photo Ngoc Mieng

HA NOI — Poorly paid kindergarten teachers are having to fork out on teaching aids because schools lack the funds to properly equip classrooms.

The Ministry of Education and Training believes it is a teacher's job to make classroom props, said Pham Thi Binh, a teacher at Mam Xanh Kindergarten in Dong Da District. However, she said she did not have the time to spend making teaching aids, and that funds should be made available to buy materials.

Binh said her school day started at about 6.30am and officially ends at 6pm.

"Then I make teaching materials in the evening – time I should be spending with my family," she said.

She said she often has to ask her husband and her children for help so that she can get the work done faster.

Depending on the subject, Binh said she makes paper flowers, animals and models of houses, trains and airplanes.

She said each year a teacher has to make dozens of classroom props, which are rarely re-used.

However, she said it was essential to use teaching aids in the classroom.

"Our lessons will only be successful if we make them fun and interesting."

The Education Ministry allocates just VND300,000 (US$15) per teacher per year for teaching aids, she said, adding: "It should be at least VND600,000 ($30)."

Meanwhile, Nguyen Thi Hang, who teaches at the Sunrise Kindergarten in Thanh Xuan District, said her husband was angry that she had to spend so much time on school.

"My husband isn't at all happy when I have to spend my evenings making teaching aids instead of taking care of our small daughter," she said.

However, Hang said it was not unreasonable to expect teachers to make their own props and that every term kindergartens awarded prizes to the most creative teachers. But she said teachers should not be expected to have to spend their own money on materials.

"By making teaching aids we demonstrate our love for the job and the children," she said.

She also said that pupils preferred home-made props to those sold in shops.

Hoang Hong Thuy, Lang Thuong Kindergarten's principal, said she would gladly reimburse teachers the cost of making classroom props if she had the money.

"We need more support from the Ministry of Education and Training," she said.

In the meantime, she advised teachers to only make simple inexpensive props.

"We need simple and colourful toys which will save teachers time, money and energy," she said.

Pham Ngoc Phuong, deputy director of the Department of School Materials and Equipment at the Ministry of Education and Training, said making handmade props promoted creativity among teachers.

He added that from next year the ministry planned to spend VND700 billion (US$36.8 million) on materials that teachers could use to make props.

The following year, he said the ministry would organise training courses for kindergarten teachers. — VNS

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Officials eye vocational teacher qualifications

HCM CITY — The Government expects at least 85 per cent of vocational teachers to meet professional standards by 2015 and 100 per cent by 2020, according to the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs.

The goal is one of several targets in a draft on improving vocational training submitted to the Government by the ministry.

Figures from the General Department of Vocational Training show that more than 29,000 teachers were enrolled at vocational schools nationwide last year.

Of them, 11.9 per cent of teachers had master's and doctoral degrees. Sixty-five per cent of vocational teachers are unqualified.

Many vocational teachers have not been trained in modern teaching methods, according to Professor Dr Nguyen Khang, deputy head of the Vocational Training Department under the Ministry of Education and Training.

In order to develop qualified human resources, the quality of both schools and teachers must be improved.

Professor Dr Cao Van Sam, deputy head of the General Department of Vocational Training, said the department would implement the project to improve vocational training skills later in the year.

In September, the ministry issued regulations on vocational teachers'standards.

In recent years, the department has worked with organisations, such as Inwent, a non-profit group in Germany, to organise training courses for vocational teachers. — VNS

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

State-run preschools fail to keep teachers

State-owned preschools in Hanoi are having trouble retaining qualified teachers, losing them to privately operated schools that offer higher income.

Teachers in private kindergartens received an average salary of 2 million VND (100 USD) per month, while their colleagues in State-owned ones often needed to work about four years to achieve this level of salary, said Nguyen Thi Lan Huong, chief of the Hanoi Department of Education and Training's preschool education division

"Many teachers leave State schools to work in private ones," Huong said.

Nguyen Thanh Hang, a teacher at the Tuoi Hoa Private Kindergarten in Thanh Xuan district, said she left a State school after two years because she received no allowances and was unable live on the meagre salary.

"We were busy all day taking care of the children but received only a little over 1 million VND (50 USD) a month," said Hang.

Huong admitted that city regulations provided for allowances for primary and secondary school teachers but not for preschool teachers.

"But the school fees are low compared to the current standard of living and the State budget is limited, so if we want allowances for teachers, we need support from parents," she said.

But Ngo Thi Binh from the Soc Son district Department of Education and Training disagreed.

"We cannot encourage teachers in the district if we don't pay them more," she said.

However, few parents are able to afford to send their kids to private kindergartens because of high fees.

Le Mai Phuong, whose daughter is attending a private kindergarten in Hai Ba Trung district, said she reluctantly let her daughter study there while she was on a waiting list at a nearby State preschool.

"The school fees of 1.5 million VND (78 USD) a month here is too high for people on State workers' wages like my husband and me," Phuong said.

But the city is also suffering from a shortage of State-supported preschools.

Ha Noi has 667 State-owned preschools and 160 privately operated schools. Another 865 private kindergarten classes are offered, according to the Hanoi Department of Education and Training.

Huong said the number of children at preschool age had been increasing, with the result that State-supported schools were overloaded.

Many parents queued up all night for a chance to register their children in one of these schools, which are often larger and better equipped, as well as less expensive than private schools, Huong said.

Building new preschools was also problematic, said Huong, because of the shortage of available land. "We can't build preschools too high ," she added./.

Monday, November 1, 2010

State-run preschools fail to keep teachers

State-owned preschools in Hanoi are having trouble retaining qualified teachers, losing them to privately operated schools that offer higher income.

Teachers in private kindergartens received an average salary of VND2 million (US$100) per month, while their colleagues in state-owned ones often needed to work about four years to achieve this level of salary, said Nguyen Thi Lan Huong, chief of the Hanoi Department of Education and Training's preschool education division

"Many teachers leave state schools to work in private ones," Huong said.

Nguyen Thanh Hang, a teacher at the Tuoi Hoa Private Kindergarten in Thanh Xuan District, said she left a state school after two years because she received no allowances and was unable live on the meagre salary.

"We were busy all day taking care of the children but received only a little over VND1 million ($50) a month," said Hang.

Huong admitted that city regulations provided for allowances for primary and secondary school teachers but not for preschool teachers.

"But the school fees are low compared to the current standard of living and the state budget is limited, so if we want allowances for teachers, we need support from parents," she said.

But Ngo Thi Binh from the Soc Son District Department of Education and Training disagreed.

"We cannot encourage teachers in the district if we don't pay them more," she said.

However, few parents are able to afford to send their kids to private kindergartens because of high fees.

Le Mai Phuong, whose daughter is attending a private kindergarten in Hai Ba Trung District, said she reluctantly let her daughter study there while she was on a waiting list at a nearby state preschool.

"The school fees of VND1.5 million ($78) a month here is too high for people on state workers' wages like my husband and me," Phuong said.

But the city is also suffering from a shortage of state-supported preschools.

Hanoi has 667 state-owned preschools and 160 privately operated schools. Another 865 private kindergarten classes are offered, according to the Hanoi Department of Education and Training.

Huong said the number of children at preschool age had been increasing, with the result that state-supported schools were overloaded.

Building new preschools was also problematic, said Huong, because of the shortage of available land. "We can't build preschools too high," she added.

State-run preschools fail to keep teachers