The draft Law on Teachers is being finalized by the Government and will be submitted to the National Assembly for its first comments at the 8th Session in October 2024. The draft law has devoted a chapter to regulations on salary and benefits policies for teachers.
According to Article 44, teachers' salaries in public educational institutions are guaranteed by the state budget salary fund as follows:
Basic salary according to the teacher salary scale is ranked highest in the administrative career salary scale system; preferential allowances and other allowances depend on the nature of the job and the region as prescribed by law.
In addition, preschool teachers; young teachers; teachers working in particularly difficult areas such as ethnic minority areas, mountainous areas, coastal areas and islands; teachers at specialized schools and other specialized schools; teachers implementing inclusive education; teachers who are ethnic minorities and teachers in some specific professions are given priority in terms of salary and allowances compared to other teachers.
Salaries and salary policies of teachers at non-public educational institutions and public educational institutions with autonomy in regular expenditures, and public educational institutions with autonomy in regular expenditures and investment expenditures are decided by the educational institution and must not be less than the salaries and salary policies of teachers with the same training level, seniority, and title as prescribed.
Teachers working in sectors and fields with special policies are entitled to special policies according to regulations and are only entitled to the highest level if that policy coincides with the policy for teachers.
The Government prescribes salary scales, tables and contents related to salaries and allowances for teachers.
To ensure that teachers continue to receive seniority allowances until the State has new guidelines on salary policy, the draft law stipulates in the transitional clause: "Teachers continue to receive seniority allowances until the new salary policy is implemented."
According to the draft law, policies to support teachers include allowances, subsidies, training and development policies, periodic health care, occupational health care and other policies to ensure social security for teachers; tuition exemptions for children of teachers currently working.
Standing member of the National Assembly's Finance and Budget Committee Le Minh Nam said that for regulations on salary and benefits policies for teachers, the drafting agency needs to clearly identify resources.
Therefore, the delegate said that it is necessary to fully and comprehensively evaluate the impact and feasibility of this policy. The Ministry of Finance also needs to study and give opinions on this content to see whether it is guaranteed to be implemented in practice or not.
Sharing the same view, Standing Member of the Law Committee Dong Ngoc Ba expressed support for prioritizing teachers' salaries at the highest level, however, it is necessary to carefully evaluate the resources for implementation.
