School health worker: '20% allowance does not recognize important role'

According to a press release from the Ministry of Education and Training, the Ministry announced the draft Decree regulating preferential allowances according to occupation for civil servants and employees in publiceducational institutions (including school health workers) on the Ministry's electronic information portal to collect comments.

Doctor Huynh Trung Tuan, medical staff at Trung Trac Primary School, District 11, Ho Chi Minh City (right cover) is on the front line against Covid-19 during the epidemic season.

PHOTO: PH

Notable new points in the draft, regarding allowances for school staff, according to the press release are: "Adding allowances for the first time, at a rate of 15% for support and service positions (library, clerical, ...), 20% for shared professional titles (accounting, medical, ...), and 25% for specialized titles, to recognize their important role".

On May 14, speaking with Thanh Nien Newspaper reporter, Dr. Huynh Trung Tuan (medical staff at Trung Trac Primary School, District 11, Ho Chi Minh City, nearly 30 years of working in schools) said: "Currently, according to regulations, school medical staff receive a maximum occupational allowance of 20% (the head of the unit considers and decides based on the specific nature of the work and revenue). At Trung Trac Primary School, District 11 and many public schools in Ho Chi Minh City, the principal assessed the importance of school medical staff and decided that the allowance school medical staff received was 20%. Therefore, now the draft Decree regulating occupational allowances for civil servants and employees in public educational institutions is soliciting opinions, also recording a 20% allowance for shared professional titles, including school medical staff, which is nothing called "recognizing the important role of the school medical staff". "The importance of school health workers"

There should be a clear monthly decision on medical staff allowance, which should be 30% or more.

Doctor Huynh Trung Tuan frankly said: "Directive 25 - CT/TW dated October 25, 2023 of the Secretariat on continuing to strengthen and improve the quality of grassroots medical activities in the new situation has a paragraph stating "... the scope of grassroots medical activities is expanded. Units assigned to perform basic health care tasks, including village health care, commune and ward health stations, district health centers, school health care, agency health care, etc. Directive 25 - CT/TW of the Secretariat has identified school health care as a basic health care level - equal to ward and commune health stations, therefore, I respectfully request the leaders of relevant ministries and branches to consider the salary and allowance regime for school health care staff as for ward and commune health care staff, with a clear decision in the official document on the salary and allowance regime according to the monthly salary for school health care staff allowances of 30% or more - that is, the allowance must be at least 30%. And this allowance is not determined according to the unit's income or the decision of the unit head".

Because according to Dr. Tuan, as in current regulations, school health workers have a maximum allowance of 20% - the head of the unit considers and decides based on the specifics of the job and the source of income. And it is this "depending on" that in recent times, in many localities across the country, Dr. Tuan has noticed that some school health workers receive allowances, some do not, some schools give them a 10% allowance, some schools only give them a few hundred thousand dong per month in allowance... making health workers really heartbroken.

It is impossible to leave it up to the unit leader to consider and decide.

Doctor Huynh Trung Tuan, recipient of many certificates of merit, including a medal for humanitarian work in 2005; a medal for education work in 2015; The 2016 medical career medal affirms: "The role of school health workers is very necessary in schools. School health workers are the ones who take the lead in providing primary health care for all teachers, students, staff, including parents of the school or nearby residents. School health workers directly handle the initial treatment of serious and emergency cases occurring at school. They handle the case independently, so they require solid expertise, accurate diagnosis and treatment to ensure survival for students, teachers and staff while waiting for an ambulance or transfer to the hospital, minimizing damage to students' health, reducing treatment costs for families and society, and reducing health insurance costs. If there is no school health worker to handle the initial treatment and the incident is left as it is, after 5 minutes it may be beyond repair."

School medical staff provide first aid when students have accidents at school.

PHOTO: THUY HANG

According to Dr. Huynh Trung Tuan, school health workers also have to deal with thousands of students every day and are exposed to all kinds of infectious diseases such as measles, mumps, chickenpox, conjunctivitis, Covid-19..., which are sources of infection for themselves and their families. School health workers classify diseases, organize quarantine, handle outbreaks, disinfect the environment to eliminate the risk of infection, ensuring a clean and safe learning environment for students.

They are also responsible for ensuring food safety and hygiene, ensuring school safety, preventing epidemics, preventing school diseases, ensuring conditions for student health care, ensuring water supply and drainage, environmental sanitation, preventing obesity, preventing malnutrition, preventing scoliosis, and preventing oral diseases.

"With a large workload, they have to be present from 6am every day to check the food input, how to prepare food to prepare meals for students. Take care of sick students, classify diseases, handle cases, check environmental hygiene, check the lighting in each class, check the water source, discuss with parents about the cases, and measures to prevent infection. They are also the ones who come back last, ensuring the safety of students. In case of an accident, the school medical staff must handle the initial treatment and follow the transfer vehicle, taking care of the student on behalf of the parents until the parents arrive. Those are the days when they put aside all family matters to take care of the students...", Dr. Huynh Trung Tuan confided.

Therefore, with the above responsibility, clearly regulating the allowance for school health workers from 30% or more, and not "depending on the unit head based on the specific work and revenue to consider and decide" will help school health workers ensure their lives, work with peace of mind, contribute to society, and focus on taking care of the health of students, teachers, school staff, and the community.

The Ministry of Education and Training believes that current regulations, including Decision No. 244/2005/QD-TTg dated October 6, 2005 and Joint Circular No. 01/2006/TTLT-BGDĐT-BNV-BTC dated January 23, 2006, after 20 years of implementation, have contributed to increasing income, ensuring necessary conditions for teachers to fully perform their roles and responsibilities, thereby improving the quality of education. However, the implementation of preferential allowances according to profession still has some shortcomings. Therefore, it is necessary to issue a new decree.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/nhan-vien-y-te-truong-hoc-phu-cap-20-la-chua-ghi-nhan-vai-tro-quan-trong-185250515113332334.htm