Ms. Ngo Thi Huong (born in 1987, Hanoi ) chose to peel garlic and hoe grass for hire outside of her teaching hours to earn extra money. Many days when peeling garlic, the strong smell went straight to her nose, making her eyes water. Or when she worked as a hired weeder for the whole afternoon, her back was stiff and her arms were tired, but she still managed to finish the job.
"The salary I receive for 1kg of garlic is very low, only 5,000 - 10,000 VND. As for the job of hoeing weeds on weekends, I get paid about 200,000 VND per day," said Ms. Huong.
Ms. Huong accepts garlic peeling jobs outside of teaching hours. (Photo: NVCC)
Ms. Huong studied at Hanoi Pedagogical College (now Hanoi Capital University) and was admitted to theeducation sector in 2009. As a Physical Education teacher, Ms. Huong has no other source of income besides her salary.
She currently enjoys the benefits of a grade III, level 5, junior high school teacher with a coefficient of 3.66. Each month, Ms. Huong actually receives more than 8 million VND, including salary and allowances. " I still maintain my second job to have more expenses for raising children and daily family expenses," she said, adding that her husband is a soldier who is often away from home, so she mainly takes care of all the housework.
Despite her low salary and stressful life, she is happy to go to school every day. When she is tired, the female teacher encourages herself that 'every choice has its challenges, as long as you don't give up, you have already won'. For 14 years, being called teacher by her students and working in the education sector is happiness for teacher Ngo Thi Huong.
For the past seven years, every day, Ms. Than Thu Hang (35 years old), a secondary school teacher in Ninh Binh , regularly leaves home at 6:30 a.m. and returns home at around noon. After finishing her lunch break, she is busy with her side job selling second-hand clothes.
During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021 when all schools were closed, Ms. Hang started learning about online business. After 2 years, gradually having regular customers and stable sources of goods, she took a risk and opened a store.
The female teacher confided that sometimes taking risks will bring opportunities to help people "step out of their comfort zone" and bring in a stable income. Now, this part-time job helps her earn about 10 - 15 million VND/month, more than 3 times the salary of a teacher.
Ms. Hang is raising 2 school-age children. Every month, she spends about 2.5 million VND on tuition for her children to attend private kindergarten, not to mention diapers, milk, and supplies and uniforms for her older child in 5th grade. Thanks to her side business, she has enough money to both teach and provide for her children.
In 2011, Ms. Hang graduated with a bachelor's degree in History but could not find a job, so she had to stay home, help her mother sell iced tea, then get married and have children.
After waiting for a job for two years, she reluctantly applied to work as a factory worker. It was not until 2016 that she started teaching on a contract at a secondary school in Ninh Binh. As a contract teacher, her monthly salary was only about 4 million VND. Compared to the time, pressure of work and effort, this amount of money was "not worth much".
However, Ms. Hang still feels happy to stand on the podium every day, to walk on the path that she is passionate about. "Teaching is a hard job, but also very noble. If everyone only looks at the salary, it will be very difficult to pursue it fully," she confided.
Thanks to her side business, the female teacher's total income is quite high, but she still decides to stick with the job because of fate and passion. She jokingly "takes a side job to support her main job, fulfilling her dream of becoming a teacher".
Many teachers admit that teaching is a hard job with low pay, but they are still happy to stick with the job. (Illustration photo)
Ms. Nguyen Hong Nhi (My Duc district, Hanoi) also works hard selling online every day to have enough money to buy diapers, milk and school fees for her 3 children. The kindergarten teacher said that her monthly salary is only a little over 4 million VND.
" My husband is a freelancer so his income is not stable. My teacher's salary is not enough to cover the family's living expenses. If I didn't sell online, I wouldn't know how to make ends meet, " she said, adding that she earns about 7 million VND per month from this side job.
Ms. Hong Nhi graduated from the preschool education department of Hai Duong Pedagogical College in 2019. After a year, she passed the exam and worked at a preschool near her home. When she was hired, many people said she was lucky because she "had a stable job", but few people understood the hardships and suffocating pressure of a preschool teacher like her.
" Preschool teachers really work hard, it's hard to understand unless you're in the know. Low salary, pressure from all sides, limited time... most of them are busy from morning to evening ," she said.
During the working day, she is busy with school work, and at night, she sells online. The products Nhi chooses are beauty care products for women.
A female teacher's day usually ends very late, putting her children to bed, posting, replying to comments and messages, and placing orders to deliver to customers early. Despite being "busy as hell", Nhi is satisfied with her current life and happy because she pursues her passion.
It can be seen that many teachers have to take on a second job to keep their passion for teaching intact. The question 'when will teachers be able to live comfortably on their salary?' is still open...
According to information from the Ministry of Education and Training, last school year, out of 19,300 teachers who retired, 9,295 teachers quit their jobs, while the remaining 10,094 teachers retired under the regime. In the 2021-2022 school year, 16,265 teachers quit their jobs, of which 10,407 teachers in the public school sector quit.
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