Difficulties in mountainous areas have become daily challenges
The teaching profession is a journey to sow the seeds of knowledge and form personality for the younger generation, but also full of daily challenges. In particular, for many teachers in mountainous areas, every day they go to class, they still face many difficulties with limited facilities, language barriers, etc.
As a teacher at Lien Chung Primary and Secondary School (Phieng Khoai Commune, Son La), Ms. Hoang Thi Bich Phuong confided that living and working in this mountainous area really has many challenges.
According to her, the school's facilities are still limited; many classrooms are degraded, and equipment does not meet modern teaching requirements.
"Most students are children of ethnic minorities, and have limited knowledge of Vietnamese, so acquisition of knowledge is difficult. This forces us teachers to be flexible, persistent and always find suitable methods to support students" - she said.
Ms. Phuong added that the roads are difficult to travel, especially during the rainy season, making maintaining a good score and a good learning environment a big challenge. Many parents have to work far away, limiting coordination with schools, making teachers even more difficult.
In addition to work, Ms. Phuong also has to balance with family life when taking care of her two young children. "Sometimes I encountered a lot of pressure, but still tried to overcome it" - she said.
However, her love for the profession is still the biggest motivation, she expressed: "Being a teacher is an honor. Every day that I witness their progress is a happiness and motivation for me to contribute".
New salary policy adds motivation to teachers
Although the work requires a lot of time, effort and responsibility, the current income of teachers is still limited compared to what they contribute.
The latest information from the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) shows that 88% of teachers are ranking salaries lower than civil servants in other sectors and fields. In particular, 100% of preschool teachers are currently ranked with the lowest salary in the administrative career salary scale system.
The Ministry of Education and Training is also developing a Decree regulating salary and allowance policies for teachers. In the draft of the Decree, the Ministry of Education and Training proposed that all teachers will receive a special salary coefficient. In particular, the Ministry proposed to apply a rate of 1.25 to public preschool teachers and 1.15 to general education teachers. Specific coefficients are only calculated with salaries, not applied to allowances.
Following information about the new policy, Ms. Hoang Thi Bich Phuong could not hide her joy and excitement. "With current income, covering living expenses, travel expenses, taking care of children and other expenses sometimes makes life quite difficult. Therefore, the proposal to add a specific salary coefficient of the Ministry of Education and Training is truly something that our teachers have been looking forward to for a long time. The new policy will help improve our lives, so that we can work with peace of mind and contribute more" - she shared.
Ms. Phuong also expressed her hope that the policy will be implemented synchronously, promptly and in accordance with reality, especially for teachers in mountainous areas who strive to overcome difficulties day by day, bringing the best learning environment for students.
Sharing the same view, Ms. Hoang Thi Thiet - Music teacher and Head of Team at Chieng Xuan Primary and Secondary School (Chieng Son commune, Son La) - emphasized that salary increase is very necessary, because current income is not commensurate with the workload and responsibility.
"Saule adjustment will help stabilize life and create motivation for work. However, the policy also needs to ensure fairness among teachers at all levels, especially teachers in remote areas, teachers in special subjects and homeroom teachers - those who carry a large amount of work" - Ms. Thiet said.
Also working in the highlands, Ms. Sung Thi Tang - a teacher at Pa My Kindergarten (Nam Ke commune, Dien Bien) hopes that salary and treatment policies will be implemented soon, helping to improve teachers' lives.
"This policy will give us more motivation to work with peace of mind and devote ourselves to the teaching profession" - Ms. Tang expressed.
