Ministry of Education and Training clarifies the basis for regulating 'special salary coefficient' for teachers

The Ministry of Education and Training is drafting and soliciting comments on the content of the draft Decree regulating salary policies and allowances for teachers, and guiding the implementation of the Law on Teachers. Recently, there have been opinions that the proposal of a "special salary coefficient" in the draft has no legal basis and disrupts the design of the salary system. The Ministry of Education and Training provides additional information to clarify the political and legal basis for this regulation.

“Special salary coefficient” does not break the design of the current salary system

Over the past 29 years, the policy of "teachers' salaries are given the highest priority in the administrative career salary scale system" and in addition to salaries, teachers "have additional allowances depending on the nature of work, by region" has always been identified as a consistent task and solution in the resolutions and conclusions of the Party, from the Resolution of the Second Conference of the 8th Party Central Committee in 1996 on strategic orientation for education and training development in the period of industrialization and modernization; Resolution No. 29-NQ/TW in 2013 on fundamental and comprehensive innovation in education and training; Conclusion No. 91-KL/TW in 2024 on continuing to implement Resolution No. 29-NQ/TW. Most recently, the Politburo issued Resolution 71-NQ/TW on breakthroughs in education development, which clearly stated: "There are special and outstanding preferential policies for teachers".

The above documents are important political bases for the National Assembly to stipulate that "Teachers' salaries are ranked highest in the administrative career salary scale system" at Point a, Clause 1, Article 23 of the Law on Teachers and stipulate "Preferential allowances for jobs and other allowances according to the nature of work, according to the region as prescribed by law" at Point b, Clause 1, Article 23 of the Law on Teachers. From there, establish a legal basis for the Government to concretize the contents in the Decree regulating salary policies and allowance regimes for teachers as required by the National Assembly.

Thus, the "special salary coefficient" is a specific policy solution to implement "Teachers' salaries are ranked highest in the administrative career salary scale system", with political and legal basis.

The Ministry of Education and Training affirmed that the regulation of "special salary coefficient" does not disrupt the design of the current salary system because the special salary coefficient is only used to calculate the salary level (which is the basic salary calculated according to the current salary coefficient) according to the formula:

Salary effective from January 1, 2026

Basic salary

Current salary coefficient

Special salary coefficient

Basically, with this calculation method, the salary scale of teachers still uses the general salary scale for civil servants of public service units, only with an additional special coefficient to ensure the principle that "teachers' salaries are ranked highest in the administrative career salary scale".

The special salary coefficient is also not used to calculate the allowance level, not used to calculate the amount of the reserved difference coefficient according to Circular No. 07/2024/TT-BNV dated July 5, 2024 of the Ministry of Home Affairs guiding the implementation of the basic salary level for salary and allowance recipients in agencies, organizations, and public service units of the Party, State, Vietnam Fatherland Front, socio-political organizations and associations.

Therefore, the “special salary coefficient” does not break the structure of the current salary system. On the other hand, when implementing the new salary policy, the conversion is still guaranteed to be convenient and maintain the special coefficient for teachers.

Applying Ho Chi Minh's thought to promote lifelong learning in universities

The teaching profession has not been honored as it deserves as the Party's policy has determined.

Education is not the only sector that enjoys seniority allowance. According to the provisions of Point a, Clause 8, Article 6 of Decree No. 204/2004/ND-CP, which was amended and supplemented in Clause 2, Article 1 of Decree No. 76/2009/ND-CP, seniority allowance applies to officers and professional soldiers of the People's Army, officers and non-commissioned officers receiving salaries of the People's Public Security, people working in key organizations and officials and civil servants whose salaries are classified according to specialized ranks or titles of customs, courts, prosecution, audit, inspection, civil judgment enforcement, and forestry.

However, according to Resolution No. 27-NQ/TW, when the Government issues the new salary policy, seniority allowances will only apply to the military, police, and cryptography. Thus, teachers are in the positions that will no longer be entitled to seniority allowances when the new salary policy is implemented.

Regarding the regulations on teachers' salaries, as mentioned above, the regulations on salaries are independent from the regulations on allowances. Regarding salaries, the National Assembly stipulates that "Teachers' salaries are ranked highest in the administrative career salary scale system", this regulation only relates to the salary scale that teachers are ranked in, not to the types of allowances that teachers are receiving.

Since determining that “education and training is the top national policy” and teachers “are the decisive factor in the quality of education and are honored by society” (from the Resolution of the 2nd Conference of the 8th Party Central Committee in 1996), the Party also determined the policy of ranking teachers’ salaries “highest” in the administrative career salary scale system to match the position and role of teachers.

But the actual salary ranking of teachers is not as per the policy that the Party has determined for the past 29 years. Teachers' salaries are NOT currently ranked highest in the administrative career salary scale system, and the majority of teachers are even ranked at a LOWER salary scale.

Specifically, currently 12% of teachers are classified into 3 salary groups: A1 - A2.1 - A3.1, but nearly 100% of civil servants in other sectors and fields are classified into these 3 salary groups.

	Salary scale arranged from low to high
	C1	C2	C3	B	A0	A1	A2.2	A2.1	A3.2	A3.1
100% of civil servants in other sectors and fields						Class III		Class II		Class I
12% teacher						Lecturer, college lecturer (grade III)		Senior lecturer, senior college lecturer (grade II)		Senior lecturer, senior college lecturer (grade I)
12% teacher						Vocational education teacher (grade III)		Main vocational education teacher (grade II)	Senior vocational education teacher (grade I)

Of these, only a maximum of 1.17% of senior teachers (grade I) are ranked in the highest salary scale (including A3.1 and A3.2), while other sectors have a maximum of 10% of civil servants ranked in the A3.1 salary scale.

STT	Level of education train	Estimated total quantity	Estimated number of A3 salary earners	Note
1	University lecturer	67,300	6,730	A3.1
2	Vocational Education Lecturer	36,000	3,600	A3.1
3	Vocational education teachers	36,500	3,650	A3.2
4	High School Teacher	132,200	0
5	Continuing Education Teacher	10,000	0
6	DBDH Teacher	400	0
7	Secondary school teacher	278,000	0
8	Primary school teacher	370,000	0
9	Preschool teacher	266,000	0
	Total	1,196,400	13,980	1.17%

88% of teachers are ranked lower in salary than civil servants in other sectors and fields: 88% of these teachers can enjoy the highest salary coefficient of 6.78; while civil servants in other sectors can enjoy the highest salary coefficient of 8.0 (about 1.18 times higher). Meanwhile, teachers must have a training level that meets the prescribed standards.

100% of preschool teachers are ranked at the lowest salary level in the administrative career salary scale system, including:

+ The starting coefficient of a grade III preschool teacher is 2.10 while that of grade III positions of civil servants in other sectors is 2.34 (about 1.11 times higher);

+ The starting coefficient of a grade II preschool teacher is 2.34 while that of grade II positions of civil servants in other sectors is 4.4 (about 1.88 times higher);

+ The starting coefficient of a first-class preschool teacher is 4.0 while that of first-class positions of civil servants in other sectors is 6.2 (about 1.55 times higher);

+ The highest salary coefficient that preschool teachers can receive is 6.38, while the highest salary coefficient that civil servants in other sectors can receive is 8.0 (about 1.25 times higher).

It can be seen clearly through the following chart:

In reality, with this salary arrangement, the teaching profession has not been recognized and honored as it deserves as the Party's policies have determined.

The career of "cultivating people" requires teachers to be dedicated, love their profession and students; have extensive knowledge, pedagogical skills, communication skills, self-study awareness, continuous updating capacity and must build the image of an exemplary teacher to educate students through example. Therefore, it is necessary to look at the overall salary scale of administrative careers to rank teachers' salaries commensurate with the position and role as determined by the Party in resolutions and stipulated by the National Assembly in the Law on Teachers.

Salary policy is not a "favor" but a worthy treatment for teachers.

In Clause 4, Article 23 of the Law on Teachers, the National Assembly assigns the Government to specify the salary and allowances for teachers. Thus, the responsibility to specify the regulation "Teachers' salaries are ranked highest in the administrative career salary scale system", realizing the Party's policy that has been determined for nearly 30 years is not the sole responsibility of the Ministry of Education and Training but the shared responsibility of relevant ministries and branches to advise the Government on specific policy solutions to carry out the tasks assigned by the National Assembly.

The Ministry of Education and Training's proposal of policy contents in the draft Decree regulating salary policies and allowance regimes for teachers is entirely to carry out the tasks assigned by the National Assembly and the Government according to the provisions of the Law on Teachers; ensuring compliance with the Party's policies in the Resolutions and Conclusions related to teachers' salaries; and complying with the salary regulations prescribed by the Law on Teachers. The draft Decree is being widely sent for comments from relevant ministries, branches, localities, agencies and organizations. The comments sent in are mostly in agreement with the provisions of the draft Decree. The Ministry of Education and Training will synthesize the comments and submit them to the Government for consideration and decision.

On the other hand, it is also necessary to affirm that the ranking of "Teachers' salaries at the highest level in the administrative career salary scale system" is not a "favor" but a worthy treatment for teachers.

Paying high salaries is a way to recognize the value of a certain profession. With the special nature of labor, creating products of knowledge and a highly qualified workforce; taking on the role of "deciding the future of the nation" as Resolution 71-NQ/TW of the Politburo just issued, "having a special coefficient" so that teachers' salaries are the highest in the administrative career salary scale is a worthy treatment for the role, position and responsibility of teachers.

Salary policy in the Law on Teachers has a positive impact on the teaching staff.

Before the Law on Teachers was developed and promulgated, according to statistics from the Ministry of Education and Training (school year 2022 - 2023), the rate of teachers quitting or changing jobs was about 10% of the total number of teachers; most of whom were teachers under 35 years old (accounting for 61% of teachers quitting or changing jobs). At the same time, recruiting teachers in all localities was difficult in terms of resources, especially in large urban areas. The entrance scores of teacher training colleges were low, affecting the quality of teacher training.

After the Law on Teachers was passed by the National Assembly, the salary policy provisions in the Law immediately had a positive impact on the enrollment of teacher training colleges and the recruitment of teachers in localities. The benchmark scores of teacher training colleges are high compared to other professions. The rate of people applying to become teachers in many localities is 7-10 times higher than the recruitment target. Some subjects that were difficult to recruit in the past (such as Foreign Languages, Information Technology, Fine Arts, Music, etc.) now have many applicants.

When the Law on Teachers was promulgated, teachers across the country were very excited and looked forward to the Government's detailed regulations on teachers' salaries being ranked highest in the administrative career salary scale system. Therefore, the regulation on "special salary coefficient" received the agreement and support of many relevant agencies, units and individuals, especially the expectations of teachers nationwide.

The Ministry of Education and Training will continue to improve the content of the regulations to demonstrate the consistency of the Party and State's policies and viewpoints on teachers' salaries over the past 30 years as mentioned above. At the same time, the Ministry of Education and Training will coordinate with the Ministry of Finance to calculate and determine the budget source to implement the policy contents in the Decree, ensuring feasibility with the socio-economic development situation of the country.

Source: https://giaoducthoidai.vn/bo-gddt-lam-ro-can-cu-quy-dinh-he-so-luong-dac-thu-cho-nha-giao-post756722.html