Can Tho informs about 41 schools owing teachers nearly 30 billion VND

(Dan Tri) - On the afternoon of October 16, at the third quarter press conference organized by the People's Committee of Can Tho City, the acting Director of the Department of Education and Training of Can Tho City frankly informed about the shortage of staff and teachers' unpaid teaching fees in the area.

Ms. Tran Thi Huyen, acting Director of the Department of Education and Training of Can Tho City, said that the shortage of teachers is not only in Can Tho but also occurs in many other provinces and cities. In particular, after merging educational institutions from Hau Giang and Soc Trang provinces and the old Can Tho City, the city's education sector has received many outstanding problems "as is".

Ms. Tran Thi Huyen, Acting Director of the Department of Education and Training of Can Tho City (Photo: Contributor).

Tens of billions of dong in teacher salary debt

One of the most urgent problems is that 41 schools in the former Soc Trang province owe teachers money for exam preparation and teaching hours.

Ms. Huyen affirmed that the Department of Education and Training has received information and is working with the Department of Finance and the City People's Committee to find a solution.

"The remaining budget for Soc Trang province when handing over the original state is still 16 billion VND, the education sector will use that part to pay for teachers' salaries, and at the same time save on educational expenditure sources to pay. If there is still a shortage, the sector will submit to the Department of Finance to request compensation," Ms. Huyen shared.

According to the acting Director of the Department of Education and Training of Can Tho City, this is the plan that has been concluded by the Standing Committee of the City People's Committee, aiming to completely resolve this debt in the soonest time.

Previously, at a meeting with the Can Tho City National Assembly Delegation on October 14, Ms. Huyen also informed that 41 schools in the former Soc Trang province owed teachers nearly 30 billion VND in the 2024-2025 school year, of which An Lac Thon school alone owed more than 2 billion VND. This issue seriously affected the lives and psychology of the teaching staff.

Teacher promotion and staffing problems

Regarding the promotion of teachers, after many years of non-organization, the Department of Home Affairs has agreed on a solution for the Department of Education and Training of Can Tho to conduct promotion consideration according to document 64 of the Ministry of Home Affairs. However, this requires reviewing job positions in schools, ensuring that the ratio is not more than 10% of grade 1 and not more than 50% of grade 2 of the total number of civil servants of the unit.

After synthesizing the job position project, the Department of Education and Training will transfer it to the Department of Home Affairs to submit to the City People's Committee for approval of promotion targets for each unit, and then proceed to receive application documents for review.

Ms. Huyen also emphasized that this content applies to units under the Department, while secondary schools, primary schools and kindergartens in communes and wards will be managed and implemented by the People's Committees of communes and wards.

Another worrying issue that the representative of the Department of Education and Training of Can Tho City informed about is the situation that 40/103 communes and wards lack staff with pedagogical expertise in charge of education. Many places have to arrange staff with technical expertise, land administration, natural resources, and veterinary to take on this work.

Ms. Huyen said that this is a major problem, affecting the rights of teachers regarding transfer, recruitment, and promotion. Although the Department has provided training and support, the communes and wards have enough staff so they cannot accept more professional staff.

After merging three localities, the education sector of Can Tho City currently has more than 38,000 employees with 1,252 schools from kindergarten and above. However, the mechanism and funding for paying salaries to contract teachers are still unclear.

"The Department of Finance has instructed to use the school's operating resources to pay for the contract. However, schools do not have much funding for operations, so if the school is short of 1-2 teachers, it can be handled, but if the school is short of 20 teachers, it cannot be resolved," Ms. Huyen expressed her concern.

Information from the Department of Education and Training of Can Tho City shows that the city's education sector is facing many major challenges, requiring close coordination between departments, branches, and sectors and the attention of city leaders to ensure the quality of education and the rights of teachers.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/giao-duc/can-tho-thong-tin-ve-viec-41-truong-hoc-no-giao-vien-gan-30-ty-dong-20251016182416081.htm