Ms. Huyen is currently an accountant at a primary school in Hanoi. Her current salary is more than 8 million VND/month, plus an allowance of 0.1 equivalent to 234,000 VND.
What worries Ms. Huyen is not only the salary figure, but also the difference between the nature of the job and the preferential treatment regime. According to her, school accounting is not only about making books and calculating salaries, but also taking on all financial activities of the school. Even a small mistake can become a big problem.
Ms. Huyen gave an example of semi-boarding work - a small part of many tasks, enough to show that this is a stressful profession.
Accountants must monitor the number of students eating semi-boarding meals each day, compare fluctuations, calculate meal money, compile a summary table, check unit prices, norms, supplier debts, compare food invoices, contracts, receipt minutes, detailed statements and payment records in accordance with regulations.
Just one invoice lacking information, a record with the wrong date, or a statement that deviates by a few thousand VND, the accountant must review and adjust it all.
Sometimes there is only a difference of 1-2 dong due to rounding up the number, but I am still called up to ask. I do it correctly for a whole month, a whole year, no one mentions my name. But if I miss a small detail, everyone remembers" - Ms. Huyen shared.
Comparing with a teacher with the same seniority, Ms. Huyen said that their monthly income is many times higher than that of school staff, because they receive seniority allowances and preferential allowances.
Also in the educational environment, but the school staff such as accountants, clerks, equipment, libraries, school healthcare... are almost outside of preferential policies. While we are part of the school's operation" - Ms. Huyen expressed.
The current salary, although not enough to cover living expenses, Ms. Huyen believes that she is still lucky because her salary is calculated according to university coefficients, while many colleagues working in the same position in many other schools are still receiving intermediate or college salaries, with significantly lower coefficients.
After decades of not receiving allowances, recently, school staff across the country received good news when for the first time in Resolution 71 of the Politburo on breakthroughs in education and training development (Resolution No. 71-NQ/TW) was stipulated and clearly stated the viewpoint on paying attention to policies and the lives of school staff.
In the task and solution section, the Resolution states the requirement to have specific and superior preferential policies for teachers; increasing professional preferential allowances for preschool and general education institutions to at least 70% for teachers, at least 30% for staff, 100% for teachers in particularly difficult areas, border areas, islands, and ethnic minority areas.
However, in the draft Decree stipulating the preferential allowance regime for officials and employees working in public educational institutions, the Ministry of Education and Training proposed to supplement a 20% preferential allowance for school staff, costing 158 billion VND/month.
This allowance level is expected to be applied from January 1, 2026 to the end of December 31, 2030. From January 1, 2031, it will be increased to 30%.
Explaining this proposal, the Ministry of Education and Training said that current budget resources do not allow expanding the benefit level to 30% for new target groups, avoiding budget spending pressure and ensuring long-term implementation capacity.
Ms. Nga (character name has been changed) - an accountant in Lao Cai province, said that when receiving a 30% professional preferential allowance, this is not only an additional income, but an incentive, encouragement, and motivation for school staff in general.
In mountainous areas, remote areas, and areas with many difficulties, the working conditions of school staff, especially accountants, are even more difficult.
In some places, an accountant has to concurrently work for 9 schools due to their small scale, but the distance between school sites is not close at all, moving is very hard" - Ms. Nga said.
Not only Ms. Nga, Ms. Huyen, the team of accountants and school staff across the country have repeatedly sent letters to the Ministry of Education and Training and the Ministry of Home Affairs. They earnestly hope to receive a 30% professional preferential allowance right from January 1, 2026, in accordance with the spirit of Resolution 71.
We work quietly, are rarely mentioned, but without an accountant, all activities of the school will be congested. We just hope to be correctly recorded, to enjoy appropriate benefits to feel secure in working and sticking for a long time" - Ms. Huyen expressed.
