Teaching overtime and the story of compensation.

Amidst a teacher shortage and pressure to achieve high performance and output quality, overtime teaching has become common in many schools across the province. However, behind these tireless hours of teaching, a troubling reality exists: the issue of unpaid overtime pay.

Teachers and students of Hoang Truong Secondary School, Hoang Tien commune, during a lesson.

Due to a shortage of teachers, in recent years almost 100% of the teachers at Hoang Truong Secondary School in Hoang Tien commune have had to teach extra classes, some teaching one class per week, others teaching four classes per week (not including homeroom duties). This means some teachers have nearly 150 extra teaching hours per school year. However, since the 2023-2024 school year, teachers have not been paid for their overtime pay as per regulations.

Ms. Ho Thi Lam, a teacher at Hoang Truong Secondary School, shared: “In recent years, teachers at Hoang Truong Secondary School have all been ‘given’ extra teaching hours. Personally, at times I taught 26 lessons per week, including additional duties. But currently, I, like many other teachers in the school, have not yet received payment for these extra lessons and hours.”

According to statistics from Hoang Truong Secondary School, in the 2024-2025 school year, teachers throughout the school taught 2,082 overtime hours; this will increase to over 3,700 hours in the 2025-2026 school year.

Mr. Do Dang Son, Principal of Hoang Truong Secondary School, said: “Teaching extra classes is a common situation in many schools due to a shortage of teachers. According to regulations, teachers who teach extra classes should receive financial support; however, for the past three school years, the school has not received any funding to support teachers teaching extra classes. The school has proposed and requested a solution to this problem at many conferences of the education sector and the local government, but so far there has been no response regarding the payment of extra class and overtime pay for teachers. The school's management always encourages teachers to be understanding of the education sector and the local government, and to strive to complete their assigned tasks well. We hope that the payment of extra class and overtime pay for teachers will be resolved soon.”

In the same commune, at Le Quang Truong Secondary School, the number of extra teaching hours for teachers in the 2024-2025 school year is nearly 2,000 hours; and in the 2025-2026 school year, it is over 3,100 hours. Among them, the school principal, Cao Duc Manh, is one of those who taught a significant number of extra hours. According to regulations, the principal should teach 70 hours per school year, but due to a shortage of teachers, in the 2024-2025 school year, Mr. Cao Duc Manh taught 245 hours, exceeding the limit by 175 hours per year. Teacher Manh shared: “Not only me, but the vice principal also teaches an extra 3 lessons per week, and other teachers teach 4 to 6 lessons per week. Our efforts aim at the common goal of ensuring students' learning and training rights according to the educational curriculum and improving the quality of education at the school. We participate in teaching extra hours to encourage and support the teachers who are currently facing a teacher shortage.”

According to Mr. Mạnh, although the school's staff and teachers have not received overtime pay for extra classes, each teacher has always strived and worked together to successfully complete their assigned tasks.

The current situation of teachers waiting for overtime pay is occurring in many educational institutions, especially in schools with teacher shortages. Mr. Nguyen Van Thao, Principal of Minh Loc Secondary School in Van Loc commune, stated: “Our school has approximately 2,000 surplus hours per school year. With such a large number of surplus hours, plus the estimated payment of 200,000 to nearly 300,000 VND per lesson as stipulated in Circular No. 21/2025/TT-BGDĐT, the school does not have enough funds to cover the costs. The school's staff and teachers rely on funding from higher levels of government and the local authorities.”

Regarding this funding, Mr. Doan Chi Phuong, Head of the Culture and Social Affairs Department of Van Loc commune, said: “The local government has not yet determined the funding source to pay the schools. We will propose and recommend to the province and the education sector to find a suitable solution in the near future.”

It is known that before the implementation of the two-tiered local government model, the overtime pay system was governed by Joint Circular No. 07/2013/TTLT-BGDĐT-BNV-BTC. Accordingly, teachers were paid overtime wages for teaching hours in units or subjects lacking sufficient teachers, as approved by the competent authority. The Department of Finance also previously issued guidelines stating that the funding for overtime pay was managed by the former districts using their allocated regular expenditure budget. In cases exceeding the budget balance, localities would compile their funding needs and submit them to the Department of Finance for reporting to the Provincial People's Committee as per regulations. Prior to the dissolution of the district level, schools had completed compiling and reporting to the competent authority on the number of increased teaching hours. However, to date, many schools have still not received this money.

From September 2025, overtime pay for teachers has been calculated according to Circular No. 21/2025/TT-BGDĐT, with the specific calculation being: overtime pay = regular teaching pay x 150%. Immediately after Circular 21 was issued, the Department of Education and Training issued Document No. 290/SGDĐT-TCCB on the implementation of Circular No. 21/2025/TT-BGDĐT. Accordingly, it requested the heads of educational institutions under the Department's jurisdiction and the chairpersons of the People's Committees of communes and wards to direct the principals of educational institutions under their management to continue to carefully study and implement Circular No. 21/2025/TT-BGDĐT.

The official document also clarifies that the funding for overtime pay is allocated from the public service unit's financial resources as prescribed. The budgeting, payment, and settlement of overtime pay are carried out in accordance with the law applicable to public service units and related documents. Public educational institutions, based on their specific conditions, may make payments or advances for overtime pay on a monthly, semester, or annual basis. However, to date, the rights of teachers teaching overtime remain only on paper.

The story of teachers waiting for overtime pay not only reflects financial issues but also highlights the urgent need for timely and fair implementation of reward mechanisms for those who are directly contributing to the education of future generations of the country.

Text and photos: Phong Sac

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/day-tang-gio-and-cau-chuyen-thu-lao-285987.htm