Proposal to increase salary, increase allowances, reduce retirement age for teachers

Public teachers are special civil servants; information about teachers' violations cannot be made public without an official conclusion from a competent authority; preschool teachers can retire 5 years before retirement age without having their pension rate deducted due to early retirement; the right to proactively recruit, use, and manage teachers is given to education management agencies... These are notable points in the draft Law on Teachers, which is expected to be submitted to the National Assembly for consideration and comments for the first time at the 8th Session of the 15th National Assembly.

Public teachers are special employees.

According to information from the Ministry of Education and Training, the National Assembly Standing Committee affirmed that teachers in public educational institutions are special civil servants. Public teachers are still civil servants, implementing the provisions of the Law on Civil Servants (recruitment, employment, management, salary scale system, etc.) and are subject to the management of competent state management agencies, and are also subject to the specific regulations for teachers in this Law. Non-public teachers and foreign teachers are special workers, subject to the provisions of the Labor Code and additional specific regulations for teachers in this Law.

In that spirit, the draft Law on Teachers through the versions has been adjusted in a concise direction, consistent with the Law on Civil Servants and the Labor Code in a number of provisions, and at the same time designed separate policy contents for teachers. The Law on Teachers creates a number of new policies, breakthrough policies to attract and develop the teaching staff, helping teachers feel secure in their work and dedication to their profession; ensuring consistency in the management of public and non-public teachers; standardizing and improving the quality of teachers, taking that as an important factor to improve the quality of education.

To strengthen the protection of teachers, in addition to more clearly defining what teachers are not allowed to do, the draft Law on Teachers stipulates what organizations and individuals are not allowed to do towards teachers, including: not fully implementing the regime and policies of teachers as prescribed; publicly disclosing information about teachers' violations without an official conclusion from a competent authority during the process of considering discipline or prosecuting legal responsibility for teachers; other things that are not allowed to be done according to the provisions of law.

Some opinions are concerned about the regulation that "information about teachers' violations cannot be made public without an official conclusion from a competent authority in the process of considering discipline or prosecuting teachers' legal responsibilities" because they believe that this regulation will be entangled with regulations on information, speaking and "defending" teachers.

However, according to the Ministry of Education and Training - the unit drafting the draft Law on Teachers - this provision is necessary to protect teachers, especially in the context of social networks and online media developing strongly as it is today. If teachers commit violations, there will be sanctions to handle them according to regulations. In addition, the characteristics of teachers' professional activities are special, if there is no plan to protect teachers, the affected subjects will not only be teachers but also students.

Delegate proactive recruitment authority to the education sector

One of the important new points in the draft Law on Teachers is to give the education sector the initiative in recruiting and using teachers. In particular, the Ministry of Education and Training and the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs are the agencies in charge of developing strategies, projects, development plans, and total staffing levels of teachers under their management authority to submit to competent authorities for decision; promulgate recruitment criteria and standards, and pedagogical practice content in teacher recruitment/examination; and coordinate the staffing levels of teachers in public educational institutions according to the number assigned by competent authorities.

Education management agencies take the lead (or delegate authority to educational institutions) to recruit, mobilize, arrange, evaluate, and appoint teachers. The draft Law stipulates that the appointment is advised, decided, or recognized by the education management agency in accordance with the assigned authority.

Regarding recruitment, the draft Law on Teachers also requires that recruitment methods through selection or examination must include pedagogical practice to increase professional quality and select the right people for the profession.

The draft Law on Teachers stipulates more clearly the situations of using teachers associated with the characteristics of the school level and training level, including: mobilization, secondment, transfer, inter-school and inter-level teaching. Accordingly, teacher mobilization will not be carried out for female teachers who are pregnant or raising children under 36 months old, teachers in especially difficult circumstances, teachers whose spouses are working in border areas or islands, unless the teacher so wishes.

Increase allowances and salaries

In the draft, regulations on salary policies, allowances, and support for teachers are fully regulated, in the direction of increasing preferential policies so that teachers can work with peace of mind.

Specifically, teachers' salaries are ranked highest in the administrative career salary scale system; preferential allowances and other allowances depend on the nature of the job, according to the region as prescribed by law. Preschool teachers; teachers working in particularly difficult areas in ethnic minority areas, mountainous areas, coastal areas and islands; teachers in specialized schools, other specialized schools; teachers implementing inclusive education; teachers who are ethnic minorities and teachers in some specific professions are given priority in the salary and allowance regime compared to other teachers. Teachers recruited and ranked for the first time are ranked 1 salary level higher in the administrative career salary scale system.

Salaries and salary policies of teachers in non-public educational institutions are guaranteed to be no less than salaries and salary policies of teachers in public educational institutions with the same training level and same title, unless otherwise agreed.

Increase attractive policies, flexible retirement age

The new draft law supplements and clarifies a number of policies to attract teachers. Accordingly, teachers are entitled to allowances and incentives; are guaranteed collective accommodation with sufficient essential conditions or are allowed to rent public housing when working in rural areas, ethnic minority areas, mountainous areas, border areas, islands and areas with particularly difficult socio-economic conditions; and are supported in training and development.

The attraction policies are expected to help teachers feel secure in their profession, especially teachers in rural areas, ethnic minority areas, mountainous areas, border areas, islands and areas with especially difficult socio-economic conditions that current state policies have not yet met.

Also according to the draft law, teachers in preschools can retire at a lower age but not more than 5 years earlier than the regulation and will not have their pension rate deducted due to early retirement.

Teachers with the title of professor, associate professor or doctoral degree and teachers working in specialized fields and sectors are entitled to retire at a higher age. Retirement at a higher age is implemented when the educational institution has a need, the teacher is healthy enough and volunteers.

When retiring at an older age, teachers do not hold leadership or management positions and are not allowed to retain leadership allowances. The working time when retiring at an older age is not more than 5 years for teachers with a doctorate degree, not more than 7 years for teachers with the title of associate professor, and not more than 10 years for teachers with the title of professor.

According to a representative of the Ministry of Education and Training, the retirement policy is specifically designed to meet the characteristics of professional activities, while promoting the intelligence and experience of teachers.