Don't let teacher salaries remain a "continued proposal"

That was a moment of confession from a teacher who had to write a resignation letter, shown in a video reviewing the work done by the education sector.

The teacher choked up as she recounted the moment she signed her resignation letter, saying goodbye to the teaching profession she had dreamed of and been attached to. Her story is also the story of many teachers when they decide to leave the podium.

Many of them left because of frustration, many others still lingered, still had passion for the profession in their hearts but still had to leave because their income was not enough to live on and the pressure was too great, making their lives no longer joyful or happy.

In 2021-2022, right after the COVID-19 pandemic, 16,200 teachers quit their jobs and left the industry, including 10,400 teachers in public education institutions. One of the reasons discussed at that time was "due to the pandemic".

But when the pandemic is under control, the wave of teachers quitting their jobs has not stopped. In 2022 - 2023, statistics from the Ministry of Education and Training show that the whole country has over 18,300 public teachers retiring and quitting, of which the number of teachers who are still of working age but have applied for resignation is 9,300. From August 2020 to August 2023 alone, the whole country has about 40,000 teachers quitting their jobs.

Meanwhile, the education and training sector is struggling to carry out innovation and implement the new general education program, and to meet the requirements, the whole country is still short of over 110,000 teachers at all levels.

Teachers' salaries are too low and work pressure is too great, which is a difficulty in attracting young people to study pedagogy and keeping teachers in the profession.

When Resolution 29/NQ-TW was implemented in 2013, the issue of bringing teachers' salaries to the highest position in the salary scale was raised. This is a necessary condition to ensure a team with sufficient quantity and quality to meet the requirements of educational reform.

But after 10 years, teachers' salaries are still low. The Ministry of Education and Training has also made many efforts in proposing and coordinating to remove unreasonable procedures, facilitating recognition and meeting the legitimate rights of teachers.

But the core problem remains unresolved, teachers cannot live on their income including salary and allowances. Many teachers only receive an income of 5-6 million VND/month and have to work more than the prescribed eight hours/day.

In 2006, when he first took office as minister, Mr. Nguyen Thien Nhan, the minister at that time, made a promise to propose to make it a reality that "teachers can live on their salaries". In the next term as minister, 2010 - 2016, Mr. Pham Vu Luan continued to speak out "sharing the difficulties" of teachers.

Minister Phung Xuan Nha's term lasts from 2016 to 2021. And in a 2017 speech, Mr. Nha also promised to "accompany and increase teachers' salaries".

He emphasized that he will work with relevant ministries to unify the issue of teachers' salaries, contributing to promoting the implementation of Resolution 29/NQ-TW.

And today, when Resolution 29/NQ-TW has been passed for 10 years, the 2018 General Education Program is about to complete a cycle from grade 1 to grade 12, but the issue of teacher salaries is still something that "will continue to be proposed", stated in the recent summary conference.