Struggling to find funding to pay teachers for overtime teaching.

The Dak Lak Department of Education and Training announced that it is coordinating with relevant agencies to review and find solutions to address the issue of delayed payment of overtime pay to teachers in some localities within the province.

Teachers at Nguyen Duc Canh Primary School say they are owed nearly 1.2 billion VND in overtime pay - Photo: MINH PHUONG

On October 21st, the Department of Education and Training of Dak Lak province announced that following Tuoi Tre Online's report and the Provincial People's Committee's request for investigation, the department has issued a document requesting communes, wards, and affiliated educational institutions to report on the payment of overtime pay to teachers.

Reviewing outstanding overtime teaching debts across the province.

Payment for overtime teaching is made in accordance with Government Decrees 60 and 111 on the financial autonomy mechanism for public non-business units.

Accordingly, the funds for payment are allocated in the annual recurrent expenditure budget of each educational institution, and the units are responsible for proactively balancing their allocated resources to ensure the rights of teachers.

On October 16th and 17th, the department organized a working group to conduct on-site surveys at several kindergartens and primary schools in Ea Kao ward, Buon Ma Thuot, Buon Ho, and Ea Wer commune to assess the actual payment process.

According to the Department of Education and Training, all high schools and vocational training centers under its jurisdiction have submitted reports, and none of them owe overtime pay.

Regarding preschool to junior high school educational institutions, a representative from the Dak Lak Provincial Department of Education and Training stated that they are awaiting reports from the commune-level People's Committees, according to the decentralization of authority, in order to have a basis for reporting to the Provincial People's Committee before October 25th as requested.

Many teachers in Buon Ma Thuot ward say they are owed overtime pay and hope the issue will be resolved - Photo: MINH PHUONG

Sixteen communes and wards still owe more than 29 billion VND in overtime pay for teachers.

According to a representative from the Dak Lak Provincial Department of Education and Training, 16 out of 40 communes and wards have submitted reports, with a total debt exceeding 29 billion VND.

According to this source, the issue of unpaid overtime pay is mainly prevalent in the western part of the province, while it is less common in the eastern communes and wards. Some localities have significant debts, such as Ea Kar commune with over 14.2 billion VND, Tan An commune with over 4.1 billion VND, Ea O commune with nearly 1.7 billion VND, and Ea Kao ward with nearly 1.8 billion VND...

In Buon Ma Thuot City alone - where many schools have been reported on by Tuoi Tre Online - only Nguyen Du Primary School and Vo Thi Sau Primary School have directly reported to the Department of Education so far; the remaining schools have yet to submit reports.

Regarding solutions, a representative from the Department of Education and Training stated that it is currently difficult to resolve the issue completely because the fiscal year has already passed. The Department has requested that the units clearly report the reasons for the debt, clarifying why annual funding is still provided in full according to staffing levels but the debt still occurs...

After compiling reports from all communes and wards, the department will coordinate with the Department of Finance, the People's Committees of communes and wards, and educational institutions that owe overtime pay to teachers to analyze the causes and discuss solutions.

"Based on that, the Department of Education and Training will advise the Provincial People's Committee to consider and decide, or the Provincial People's Committee will propose to the Provincial People's Council to issue a special resolution, allowing for the allocation of additional funds (if any) to pay for overtime teaching for teachers," said the representative of the Dak Lak Department of Education and Training.

Schools in Buon Ma Thuot ward owe over 20 billion VND in additional teaching hour fees.

The People's Committee of Buon Ma Thuot ward stated that it had received feedback from schools regarding the lack of funds to pay for overtime teaching hours and had directed a review and compilation of the issues for resolution.

At Nguyen Duc Canh Primary School, teachers reported that for nearly three years they have had to teach hundreds of extra lessons due to a teacher shortage, but have only received a small portion of the payment, despite numerous requests. The school currently owes over 6,500 lessons, equivalent to nearly 1.2 billion VND. Vo Thi Sau Primary School owes nearly 3,000 lessons, or over 580 million VND.

According to preliminary calculations, many schools in the ward are in a similar situation, with the total amount owed for overtime teaching estimated at over 20 billion VND.

MINH PHUONG - TAM AN

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/lung-tung-tim-kinh-phi-tra-tien-day-them-gio-cho-giao-vien-20251021101645534.htm