Ministry of Education and Training explains not paying for teaching more than 200 hours/school year

The Ministry of Education and Training has just given some explanations about new points in Circular 21 regulating the regime and salary for overtime teaching for teachers in public educational institutions.

The Ministry of Education and Training noted that Circular 21 takes effect from the date of issuance. Educational institutions shall base on the regulations to develop their own regulations to ensure that the new circular is implemented from the beginning of the 2025-2026 school year.

Remove the regulation of only paying overtime wages if there is a shortage of teachers

The new circular removes the regulation on conditions for paying overtime wages in Clause 6, Article 3 of Joint Circular No. 07: "Only pay overtime wages in units or departments that lack the number of teachers approved by competent authorities...".

Explaining the removal of this regulation, the Ministry of Education and Training said that, in reality, the number of teachers approved by competent authorities is almost lower than the number of teachers according to the prescribed norms of the Ministry of Education and Training, the prescribed level is to ensure the implementation of educational programs on the basis of adequate working conditions for teachers.

Besides, due to the nature of teaching by subject, even though the total number of teachers is sufficient according to the norm, when calculating by subject, there are still subjects with excess teachers and subjects with shortages of teachers; for subjects with shortages, teachers have to teach extra hours.

In addition, preschool teachers work 6 hours a day, but in reality, due to the nature of their job and the demands of parents, they often have to pick up children early and drop them off late (in some cases, they have to work directly at school from 6:30 to 18:00, meaning the actual working time can be up to 9 - 10 hours a day).

Thus, even though educational institutions have enough assigned teachers, in reality, teachers still have to teach more than the prescribed teaching hours without being paid overtime wages.

Make sure teachers are not overloaded

The Ministry of Education and Training also said that the circular stipulates that the total number of extra teaching hours in a school year of all teachers must not be higher than the maximum total number of extra teaching hours in a school year of the educational institution for which the educational institution is paid . In which, the maximum total number of extra teaching hours for which the educational institution is paid is the total number of hours required to implement all tasks minus the total number of standard hours of all teachers actually present.

At the same time, the regulation stipulates that the total number of extra teaching hours in a school year for each teacher shall not exceed 200 hours . This replaces the regulation that the total number of extra teaching hours for which overtime pay is calculated in a school year shall not exceed the number of overtime hours prescribed by law, as previously stipulated in Joint Circular No. 07.

"This regulation ensures that it is consistent with the specific characteristics of teachers' professional activities and ensures that teachers do not have to work too hard and have time to rest and restore their labor capacity, in accordance with the provisions of the Labor Code," the Ministry of Education and Training explained.

In addition, the new circular also adds regulations on the responsibility for paying overtime wages for teachers on secondment and inter-school teaching. Overtime wages for teachers on secondment are paid by the educational institution where the teacher is on secondment. Overtime wages for inter-school teachers are paid by the educational institution where the teacher is on inter-school teaching...

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/bo-gd-dt-ly-giai-khong-tra-luong-day-them-qua-200-tiet-nam-hoc-185250924083955938.htm