Reader Tran Thi Ngoc A said that as a school health worker in Quang Tri province, she has worked for 14 years but her current salary is only 7 million VND/month.
Ms. A said that according to Decree 56/2011/ND-CP on allowances for medical staff, for civil servants and public employees who do not directly work in medical profession; civil servants and public employees who work in management and service at general medical service units (except for the subjects specified in Point b, Clause 5 of this Article), civil servants who work in medical profession at agencies, units, and schools, the head of the unit shall consider and decide based on the specific nature of the work and revenue sources, but not exceeding 20% compared to the current salary scale and grade plus leadership position allowance, seniority allowance beyond the framework (if any) of the beneficiary.
"But in recent years, I have only received an allowance of 0.2% of my basic salary, equivalent to 468,000 VND/month, so my family life has been difficult, and my work in school health has been very tiring," said Ms. Ngoc A.
Therefore, readers hope that the Minister of Health will consider Decree 56/2011/ND-CP stipulating that the 20% medical allowance provided by the budget is a preferential treatment for teachers, not depending on the school's revenue.
Sharing the same opinion, another reader suggested that the allowance be the same as that of medical staff at other grassroots health facilities, not considered by the principal, based on the source of income but not exceeding 20% of the current salary scale, rank plus leadership position allowance, seniority allowance beyond the framework (if any) of the beneficiary.
According to readers, school health workers across the country receive uneven benefits, and some have not received them for many years.
In addition, readers request to be considered for promotion and transfer to other health care workers after self-funding their studies to upgrade their qualifications to improve their skills, meeting the increasing health care needs of society, specifically students in schools.
Reader Mai Vu expressed his hope that agencies would pay attention to the allowance regime of school health workers, to ensure their lives and work with peace of mind.
Recently, answering questions at the National Assembly, Minister of Health Dao Hong Lan said that currently, implementing the Prime Minister's direction, the Ministry of Health is focusing on amending Decree No. 56 on preferential allowances for medical staff; amending Decision 73 on on-call allowances and special allowances for medical staff. In addition, amending Decision No. 75 related to the regime for village medical staff.
In addition, many localities have many policies approved by the Provincial People's Council to attract and retain public health workers.
In the Resolution on the 2025 state budget estimate that was just passed, the National Assembly assigned the Government to direct relevant ministries and agencies to study and propose solutions to unreasonable issues arising in the regime for certain subjects and professions (civil servants in education, health, etc.).
