Disadvantaged for being "outside" the regime for many years
Sending a petition to Lao Dong Newspaper, the collective of school health workers (NVYTTH) stated that according to Decree No. 56/2011/ND-CP dated July 4, 2011 of the Government regulating preferential allowances according to profession for civil servants and public employees at public health facilities (CSYT), school health workers are entitled to no more than 20% of the current salary scale and grade.
The level of preferential allowances according to profession will be considered and decided by the school principal. The source of funding for implementing the allowance regime is guaranteed by the state budget (NSNN) according to decentralization, the revenue of health facilities from career activities and other legal sources of funding.
The Decree was issued as a practical encouragement for civil servants and public employees at public health facilities nationwide. However, it is different for the collective of health workers in Tay Son district. Over the past 13 years, they have not once enjoyed this legitimate regime, despite having sent many complaints.
"We have made many requests to the school, the district Department of Education and Training (DET) and the Department of Education and Training, but so far we have not received any payment. The schools have given many reasons such as no source of income, unclear instructions on spending or not knowing how to spend... so we are helpless."
After more than 15 years of working, adding up all the expenses, I actually receive more than 5 million VND/month. This amount is nothing when it comes to covering family expenses and paying for my children's education. Waiting year after year but not seeing any benefits, this is a great disadvantage for us," said a medical staff at a primary school in Tay Giang commune.
A medical staff at an elementary school in Phu Phong town said: "My salary is only 4-5 million VND/month, and even if I spend frugally, it's not enough. I have to do other jobs after hours to earn more income. We hope to receive this full and legitimate allowance, so that life will be less difficult."
According to PV's investigation, at the end of October 2023 and mid-August 2024, the People's Committee of Tay Son district sent official dispatches to the district's Department of Education and Training and schools managed by the district to guide the implementation of the hazardous and dangerous allowance regime for library and school health workers. However, up to now, the payment is still "stuck" at the guidance stage.
Have money but can't spend
At the meeting with Lao Dong Newspaper on October 10, Mr. Mai Xuan Hau - Head of the Tay Son District Internal Affairs Division - said that, in response to the petition of the health workers, the Division advised the District People's Committee to issue documents guiding schools to review regulations and implement payment regimes for health workers.
"Recently, the Department has instructed principals to make an estimate of the support level for health care workers and send it to the District Finance Department so that the District People's Committee can consider solutions if the schools do not have revenue to spend," said Mr. Hau.
Mr. Vo Ngoc Khanh - Head of Tay Son District Education and Training Division - said that after the Chairman of Tay Son District People's Committee directed the payment of allowances to medical staff, schools are calculating, but have not yet paid, due to problems in implementing the decree.
"When I was still Deputy Head of the District Education and Training Division, I made many recommendations to the province, but until now, this problem has not been resolved," said Mr. Khanh.
Responding to the above issue, Mr. Phan Chi Hung - Chairman of Tay Son District People's Committee - said that the district's viewpoint is to pay the correct and sufficient regime for health workers as prescribed by the state. However, the implementation of regime payment for this subject is facing difficulties because Decree 56/2011/ND-CP's payment instructions are not clear.
"According to the decree, the rate of health workers receiving no more than 20% from two funding sources (school revenue and state budget) is unclear, so the district has money but cannot spend it because it is very easy to make mistakes. If the rate of benefits and the source of payment are specifically regulated from the state budget, the district will easily implement it.
Regarding the solution, I have assigned the Department of Education and Training to direct schools to review and estimate the level of allowances for health workers at all levels, with a maximum of 20%. After that, the Department of Internal Affairs and the Department of Finance will compile a report to the district, and then the district will make a recommendation to the province. If the province agrees, the district will immediately allocate the budget to pay," said Mr. Hung.
Mr. Hung also recommended that the competent authority consider adjusting the percentage of benefits for medical staff to 20%, instead of the rate of no more than 20%, and the source of payment is from the state budget, so that localities no longer have problems in paying benefits to medical staff.
