Proposal to apply 'senior expert' salary level to professors: What does the Ministry of Home Affairs say?

Regarding the proposal that teachers appointed to the title of professor are subject to the senior expert salary scale, according to the Ministry of Home Affairs , currently, teachers with a salary of a senior lecturer who are appointed to the title of professor are ranked up one level or are given an additional 3 years to calculate the seniority allowance beyond the framework for those who are ranked at the last level.

Thus, the salary arrangement when appointing professors has been made higher than other professions.

The Ministry of Education and Training adjusts the salary table for professors in the direction of applying the salary table for senior experts.

The salary table for senior experts in Decree 204/2004/ND-CP of the Government on salary regime for cadres, civil servants, public employees and armed forces only applies to subjects who are senior experts according to Regulation No. 180/2024 of the Secretariat on senior experts and Decree No. 92/2025 of the Government regulating regimes and policies for senior experts.

"Therefore, regarding the proposal that teachers appointed to the title of professor should apply the senior expert salary scale, the Ministry of Home Affairs requests the Ministry of Education and Training to report to the Secretariat in accordance with Regulation No. 180," the Ministry of Home Affairs commented.

No big budget

In the Draft Decree on salary policy and allowances for teachers, the Ministry of Education and Training stated that the title of professor is the highest title of a lecturer but is currently ranked together with associate professor and other first-class senior lecturer titles. Although it is ranked one level higher when appointing the title of professor, the use of a common salary scale does not reflect the rank, position, and role of leading the profession, exploring and creating new knowledge of the professor.

From that reality, the Ministry of Education and Training proposed to adjust the salary table for professors in the direction of applying the salary table for senior experts (3 levels: 8.8 - 9.4 - 10.0).

According to this ministry, the fact that professors are ranked at the salary level of senior experts ensures the implementation of the policy "Teachers' salaries are given the highest priority in the administrative career salary scale system".

Professor is currently the highest title, demonstrating the capacity, scientific prestige and the role of leading expertise, exploring and creating new knowledge for the assigned field, is an important factor that directly impacts the activities of developing science, technology and national digital transformation. In terms of standards and conditions of senior experts according to regulations, professors are similar to senior experts.

Therefore, although it does not affirm that professors are senior experts, applying the senior expert salary scale to professors is appropriate to the professor's position and role.

The Ministry of Education and Training also expects that adjusting salaries for professors will not create much impact on the state budget.

According to data for the 2023-2024 school year, the country has 668 professors, of which 473 professors work in public educational institutions and 195 professors work in non-public educational institutions, accounting for approximately 0.97% of the number of university lecturers.

These cases are currently applying the senior expert salary scale with coefficients from 6.2 to 8.0. Thus, if the senior expert salary is applied, the salary coefficient of 8.8 will be applied and the average difference will be 1.7. Based on the basic salary, the monthly cost incurred will be:

1.7 x 2,340,000 VND x 473 people (only public) = nearly 1.9 billion VND.

But basically, universities and research institutes with professor titles are mainly autonomous at levels 3 and 2 and will gradually increase their autonomy. Therefore, salaries paid to professors basically do not generate state budget.

The budget is mainly for preschool and primary school teachers because they account for a large number. According to calculations, the budget will generate about 1,652 billion VND/month if the special salary coefficient for teachers at all levels is increased. However, with this proposal, the Ministry of Home Affairs believes that the current regulation of special salary coefficient for teachers has no political or legal basis.

Source: https://tienphong.vn/de-xuat-ap-muc-luong-chuyen-gia-cao-cap-doi-voi-giao-su-bo-noi-vu-noi-gi-post1795841.tpo