'I wish I had a Tet bonus to buy my child a new shirt'

Every time Tet comes, teachers like us are both happy and worried. Happy because we have more time to rest after a year of hard work, to be with our children and family to make up for the busy work.

However, we are less happy and more worried. Worried because teachers' salaries have to be stretched here and there to cover daily expenses, and during Tet, there are so many expenses from grandparents on both sides and children in the house that we don't know where to get them. Sometimes I wish teachers also had bonuses and 13th month salaries like other professions so that Tet would be complete.

Teaching profession does not have salary or Tet bonus like other professions.

'Don't teachers deserve Tet bonuses?'

I have been a secondary school teacher for nearly two dozen Tet holidays but have never received a Tet bonus or 13th month salary, something that people in other professions happily show off at the end of the year.

When Tet came, my friends had a chance to sit together and I found out that everyone had received a bonus. Some received a few million, some received tens of millions, and some even worked for foreign companies and received hundreds of millions, more than my entire year’s salary. When my friends asked, I just smiled and replied, “I’m a teacher.”

At times like these, I can’t help but feel sorry for myself. The issue is not the number, but the concern and sharing. Everyone says that teaching is the noblest of all professions, so it’s not a good thing that we teachers keep talking about our meager salaries.

My colleagues and I understand that, so in difficult times, we all encourage each other to balance our spending and everything will be fine. Indeed, we are just human beings with basic needs that need to be met and the struggle for food, clothing, rice and money is always heavy on our shoulders.

It is a noble profession, but if we don’t have money, no one will sell us rice, meat or vegetables on credit or give us a discount. That shows how important money is, especially during times when spending needs are high like Tet, money is even more essential.

Even though we have saved and cut down on everything possible during Tet, there are things that cannot be skipped, such as gifts for grandparents on both sides. Working all year round, we can ignore it on normal days, but how can we not have some gifts for our parents during Tet? Or like buying new clothes for our children, although children now have no shortage of clothes like in the past, new clothes are still the joy of Tet for children, we cannot let children lose this small joy because of the difficulties of adults.

All of these things require money to be able to do. Something that we teachers are not rich in, and Tet is even more difficult, especially in years when salaries are paid after the Lunar New Year like this year, the difficulty seems to multiply.

The Tet bonus is like an encouragement for workers after a year of hard work. That is why I feel even more sad when hearing my friends talk about this amount of money. Don’t we teachers deserve a Tet bonus for the effort we put in after a year of hard work?

Many teachers do not dare to return to their hometowns.

Although I don’t have a Tet bonus, I still feel luckier than many of my friends and colleagues who work far from home. I don’t have much money for Tet, so I save up and buy less, but I can still be warm and happy with my family. I have colleagues who teach away from home all year round during Tet and want to go home, but when they look at the salary they receive, they hesitate for a long time before deciding whether to go or not.

One year, you texted me that you wanted to go home, but the travel expenses, gifts, and other Tet things were too expensive, so you had to stay and wait for the summer break. If only you had a Tet bonus, that would be great. Reading the message, I felt sorry for you. Although the Tet bonus was small, if we teachers had it, it would help us share some of the difficulties in the days leading up to the New Year.

Every year, when Tet comes, to earn extra money, my colleagues and I have to do many part-time jobs after work, some sell fruits and cakes, some sell local specialties. Our Tet business is good in some years, helping us to spend quite a bit during Tet, but there are also years when it is so bad that we cannot even break even, let alone make a profit.

Although I know that Tet bonus is something very strange to our teaching profession, I hope that in the near future teachers will also receive those bonuses like other professions. This year-end bonus will help teachers like me have a warmer Tet or like my friend, to return home to be with their family to gather for a reunion dinner on the first day of the year without having to worry too much about money.

Hoang Nhan Tam (Teacher)

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