VietNamNet Bridge – Nearly 13,000 teachers in disadvantaged areas of the southern province of Tra Vinh have yet to receive their Government allowances, according to the local Department of Education and Training.

The department said allowances worth a total of VND102 billion (US$5.5 million) for the 2004-08 period had yet to be paid.

Teachers worst affected are in the districts of Tra Cu, Duyen Hai, Cau Ngang, Tieu Can.

Trieu Van Phan, the department's director, said the allowance, which can make up as much as 70 per cent of a teacher's salary, is paid to cover the hardships incurred while working in disadvantaged areas.

He said a junior teacher working in a remote mountainous school with a starting salary of VND650,000 ($36) per month is entitled to an allowance of VND450,000 ($23).

Phan said that the delay was probably caused by confusion over the change the Government made to its allowance policy.

He said that before 2008, only teachers who taught Khmer ethnic minorities or those who had relocated from other provinces to teach in disadvantaged areas were entitled to the allowance. However, in late 2008 the Government made the allowance available to all teachers living in disadvantaged areas, whether they were local or not.

"Only new teachers have not received the allowance. However, the department has now completed the necessary procedures for them to get their benefits as soon as possible. All documents have been submitted to the minister of finance and the funding disbursement will hopefully be made shortly," Phan said.

"Meanwhile, the department is planning to spend VND3 billion ($168,000) saved from last year's education budget to pay a part of the allowance for high school teachers.

"As soon as the minister transfers the money, the department will pass on the allowance to the teachers. I don't know whether the allowance will arrive before Tet or not," he added.

According to Trinh Thang Manh, head of the Social Policy Department under the Ministry of Education and Training, teachers in other provinces had also not yet received their allowances.

He said that authorities in southern Hau Giang Province claimed they could not pay teachers their allowances because they did not have the money to do so.

Manh added that it was difficult to determine exactly how many teachers in the country had yet to receive their allowances.

According to education department figures released early last year, teachers in 40 provinces and cities nationwide had yet to receive their allowances. The worst affected provinces were Quang Binh, Quang Tri, Lai Chau and Dien Bien.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News

 

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