Should teachers be forced to sing on New Year's Eve?

Recently, on social networks, there was information that in a northern mountainous province, in order to organize a cultural program on the night of the 30th of Tet Giap Thin 2024, the city in this province requested a number of schools in the area to participate in singing and dancing performances... to serve the people to celebrate New Year's Eve.

This incident has made the teaching staff and the online community very upset. Teachers believe that their role is to teach, not to perform. Organizing and participating in singing and dancing, performing should be the province's cultural center, the city's cultural center, the music and dance troupe... Shouldn't this professional force organize a spring art program and force schools to participate?

Because of the appointment, the school board forced the teachers. According to many teachers, they have worked hard all year to “grow people”, and on the 30th of Tet, they need to stay home to clean and prepare for the New Year’s Eve… with a mountain of unnamed work, they also have to go dancing and singing, but they cannot refuse, they dare not for many sensitive reasons, very difficult to say.

Perhaps, this situation is not isolated to a few places but also occurs in many other localities. Many people confided that if it were a normal day or other major holidays, it would be fine, but on the night of the 30th of Tet, forcing teachers to leave their families and homes to perform arts is not appropriate. The culture - sports - tourism sector needs to perform its role and function better on occasions like this, avoiding the situation of excessive mobilization of personnel inthe education sector.

A few years ago, there was a scandal where some places forced teachers to drink, entertain guests, socialize, etc., which caused public outrage. After that, the education sector had to issue a document prohibiting it. So, with the practice of forcing teachers to sing and dance when they do not want to and are not their duty, the leaders of the Ministry of Education and Training also need to have instructions and guidance to help teachers speak up better.

Also related to Tet, there is currently a situation where many places and schools force teachers to be on duty during Tet (2-3 people per shift, on duty with security guards). Principals assign and assign teachers in a forced manner, without pay, causing many people to be dissatisfied and protest because of the inadequacy.

Many people believe that the Labor Code, the Civil Servants Law, the Education Law, etc. do not stipulate that teachers must be on duty. According to regulations, during Tet, teachers are entitled to full pay (including allowances). If teachers are on duty, according to the Labor Code, they must receive at least 300% of their overtime pay.

However, for a long time now, the situation of teachers having to be on duty during Tet has been quite common and often… unpaid. The problem is that almost all schools have security guards. If the school needs to be looked after, this task is assigned to the security guards. And if there are visitors, there are few agencies, organizations, or parents who come to visit during Tet.

Therefore, the education sector also needs to direct and regulate more clearly on this issue to be both reasonable and in accordance with the law. Calling it a "Tet holiday" means having a day off, not having to go to work, except for arranging labor in shifts or special cases that require continuous duty such as the army, hospital, police, fire department... As for the administrative sector, there is no need for such rigid regulations, but flexibility is needed for each field.

VAN PHUC

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