From July 2020, there will be 9 significant changes regarding salaries and recruitment that will strongly impact the rights and benefits of teachers at all levels. So what specific changes are those? The editorial team of Legal Secretary will provide a detailed explanation in the article below.
Article table of contents
Teachers must know 9 important changes regarding salaries and recruitment from 2020 - Illustrative image
According to the provisions in Education Law 2019 and Law Amending the Law on Officials and Public Employees 2019, Resolution 27/NQ-TW and Resolution 86/2019/QH14, from July 1, 2020 onwards, there will be 9 important changes regarding salaries and recruitment that teachers need to know. To be specific:
No Recruitment of Primary School Teachers with Intermediate or College Degrees from July 1, 2020
According to the Education Law 2019, from July 1, 2020, the standard training qualifications for teachers at all levels are raised compared to the provisions in the Education Law 2005, specifically:
- For preschool teachers: Must have at least a college degree in pedagogy. (Previously, only a diploma from a secondary pedagogy school was required.)
- For primary, secondary, and high school teachers: Must have at least a bachelor's degree in a teacher training field. (Previously, a diploma from a secondary pedagogy school was required for primary teachers; a college degree in pedagogy or a college degree with a certificate in educational training was required for secondary teachers.)
In cases where there are not enough teachers with bachelor's degrees in the teacher training field for a specific subject, teachers must have a relevant subject bachelor’s degree and a certificate in educational training.
According to Mr. Hoang Duc Minh, Director of the Department of Teachers and Educational Managers, from the effective date of the Education Law 2019, the Ministry will instruct the suspension of pedagogy sector admission for primary school teachers at the intermediate and college levels. New primary school teachers with intermediate or college pedagogy degrees will no longer be recruited, and additional training will be organized for students to achieve a university degree in primary pedagogy upon graduation.
Therefore, from July 1, 2020, new primary school teachers with intermediate or college pedagogy degrees will no longer be recruited. Current teachers without the training qualifications stipulated by the Education Law 2019 will be required to upgrade their qualifications as per the roadmap outlined in Decree 71/2020/ND-CP, ensuring that by the end of 2030, 100% of teachers at educational institutions will meet the stipulated qualifications.
Only 03 cases in which teachers are entitled to the “public employee for life” policy
To be specific, under the Law on Officials and Law on Public Employees (Amended) 2019, public employees recruited from July 1, 2020, must sign definite-term employment contracts, except for the following 03 cases where public employees can sign indefinite-term contracts:
- Public employees recruited before July 1, 2020;
- Officials and civil servants converted to public employees as per point b, clause 1, Article 58 of the Law on Public Employees 2010;
- Public employees working in areas with particularly difficult socio-economic conditions.
This means that from July 1, 2020, there will no longer be cases where a public employee automatically transitions to an indefinite-term contract upon completing a definite-term contract. Instead, public employees must sign definite-term contracts, except for the 03 cases mentioned above.
Teachers will no longer receive seniority allowance
To be specific, according to the spirit of Resolution 27/NQ-TW, one of the major wage policy reforms is to abolish the professional seniority allowance for officials and public employees in general, and teachers in particular, except for the following 03 subjects: military, police, and cypher.
This policy is specifically provided for in Article 76 of the Education Law 2019, which also removes the professional seniority allowance from policies for teachers.
From July 1, 2020, teachers will be classified according to their job position and occupational labor, and prioritized for specific work allowances as regulated by the Government of Vietnam.
According to Decree 113/2015/ND-CP, special work allowances apply to integrated teaching teachers, vocational professionals, and teachers with high vocational skills teaching in public vocational education institutions.
Therefore, teachers who previously benefited from professional seniority allowance will no longer enjoy this allowance starting from July 1, 2020.
No increase to the statutory pay rate to 1.6 million VND/month as planned
According to Resolution 86/2019/QH14, from July 1, 2020, the statutory pay rate for officials and public employees was planned to increase to 1.6 million VND/month (an increase of 110,000 VND/month from the current rate).
However, due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, on the afternoon of June 19, 2020, the National Assembly voted to adopt the Resolution of Session 9, deciding not to adjust the statutory pay rate for officials, public employees, armed forces, and pensions from July 1, 2020. The statutory pay rate from July 1, 2020, for public employees remains at 1,490,000 VND/month. Consequently, the salaries and allowances for public employees from July 1, 2020, will be calculated as currently.
Additional cases of contract termination for public employee teachers from July 1, 2020
The Law on Officials and Public Employees (Amended) 2019 adds one more case where a public service provider can unilaterally terminate the contract with a public employee: “Public employee fails the probation period requirements.”
Currently, this regulation is mentioned in Decree 29/2012/ND-CP on terminating contracts for probationary employees, but it has not been officially included in the Law.
Therefore, from July 1, 2020, there will be 6 cases of public employees facing contract termination.
Reimbursement of tuition fees if working in the wrong sector after 2 years since graduation
According to the Education Law 2019, students in pedagogy programs who received state support for tuition and living expenses throughout their course must reimburse these costs if they do not work in the education sector or do not work for the required time within 2 years after graduation. The reimbursement period will not exceed the training duration.
Teachers paid according to capability, not seniority
To be specific, Article 76 of the Education Law 2019 stipulates teachers' salaries as follows:
Article 76. Salaries
Teachers are classified according to job position and occupational labor; prioritized for specific work allowances as regulated by the Government of Vietnam.
Thus, according to this regulation, from 2021, teachers will be paid according to job position and work complexity. For equivalent job complexity, teachers will have the same salary, with additional allowances for specific working conditions and occupational benefits as applied.
As such, from July 1, 2020, teachers' salaries will be based on their actual capabilities and ability to meet job requirements, rather than seniority or qualifications. Therefore, even newly recruited/appointed teachers meeting job requirements will receive commensurate salaries for their efforts and performance.
Extension of the contract period for public employees
To be specific, as per the Law on Officials and Law on Public Employees (Amended) 2019, the definite-term contract period will range from 12 months to 60 months (previously, the Law on Public Employees 2010 set this period at 12 months to 36 months).
Thus, the Law on Officials and Law on Public Employees (Amended) 2019 extends the maximum contract duration for public employees to 5 years (60 months).
After 2020, teachers’ salaries to increase significantly according to the roadmap
To be specific, according to the principle set out in Resolution 27/NQ-TW, the state will pay officials, public employees, and armed forces salaries according to job positions, titles, and leadership positions, aligning with national resources and public service revenue, ensuring reasonable correlation with the labor market. This includes creating a single professional salary scale for officials and public employees, with a phased salary increase as follows:
- By 2021, the minimum salary for officials and public employees will be equivalent to the average minimum wage across enterprise regions. Regular adjustments will be made based on consumer price index, economic growth rate, and state budget capacity.
- By 2025, the minimum salary for officials and public employees will exceed the average minimum wage across enterprise regions.
- By 2030, the minimum wage for officials and public employees will be equal to or exceed the minimum wage of the highest enterprise region.
Therefore, from 2021, the salaries of officials and public employees, including teachers, will follow a clear increase schedule. By 2030, the minimum salary for teachers will be equal to or higher than the minimum wage of the highest enterprise region.
Nguyen Trinh
