School staff confessions

In addition to the team of teachers directly teaching in the classroom, in educational institutions there is also a force silently contributing to the cause of education, that is school staff.

35 years old and having worked as a school librarian for 13 years, Ms. Hoang Thu Huong (Bac Cuong Primary School, Lao Cai city) always tells herself to try her best in this job, even though currently with this job, her only main source of income is salary.

While quickly arranging books and newspapers on the shelves, Ms. Huong hurriedly opened her notebook to check the missing books. She confided: My husband works as a security guard, his salary is about 5 million VND/month, plus my salary of 6.1 million VND/month, so we have to save money to support our family of 3 children. The two children have to be sent back to the countryside for their grandparents to take care of because my husband and I are both strict about work hours. Many times we go to work from early morning until late afternoon. The work at the library seems easy but it is full of "nameless work".

Previously, librarians were simply bookkeepers and book lenders, but according to the 2018 General Education Program, there is an additional reading period every week. Therefore, librarians must prepare a reading period for students as a teacher's lecture. In addition, they also introduce books before the flag every week. Organize reading competitions for students in many forms to foster reading ability and passion for books.

At the same school as Ms. Huong, Ms. Tran Thu Hang, a school health worker, has worked for 16 years. In addition to being in charge of the health of teachers and students at the school, Ms. Hang also takes on other tasks such as controlling the students' meals, keeping samples of meals, being on duty at the boarding school, or coordinating with the Bac Cuong Ward Health Station to monitor, report, and handle any outbreaks in the school.

“Assigned to supervise the delivery of meals for boarding students, I had to be at school at 6am. During the entire school day, I was on duty at the school, not daring to be negligent for even a minute because the school has thousands of students, and children falling and getting sick happens frequently. I also take on other part-time jobs as assigned by the school board, especially when the school organizes events, I participate in the logistics work,” Ms. Hang said.

Currently, the school has 4 staff members working in the library, accounting, medical, and clerical duties. Although they work in the education sector, working 8 hours a day, they do not enjoy special benefits from the sector. Understanding that, the school board has assigned staff members to take care of boarding students 4 days a week to earn more income. On school holidays, staff members are also rewarded and encouraged equally like teachers.
Teacher Tran Thi Minh Chung, Principal of Bac Cuong Primary School.

Due to the limited staffing quota for each school, school staff is a position that schools rarely recruit, but instead often leave it to existing staff to take on additional jobs. This causes school staff to always take on many other unnamed jobs, while salaries and bonuses are always much lower than those of teachers with the same seniority.

Like Ms. Ma Thi Huyen, Ham Rong Primary School (Sa Pa town), not only does medical work but also takes on the duties of a librarian - equipment and secretary. Living in Binh Minh ward (Lao Cai city), Ms. Huyen commutes 80 km by motorbike every day to school and then home. “For the past 14 years, I have started work at 6 am every day and returned home at 6 pm, without a summer break like teachers. Many people think that school medical staff do not have to work hard. In fact, every day, medical staff are busy with work with hundreds of students. There is a lot of work, we still silently contribute to our beloved students, but we still feel sad because after many years of studying, we are placed in the same group of general labor positions that do not require professional qualifications,” Ms. Huyen expressed.

School staff are the ones who work “silently”, ensuring that school activities run smoothly, such as managing the provision of teaching equipment, preserving books, learning and experimental tools, taking care of health, handling medical issues, etc. Their workload is not small, many jobs are “nameless” but the salary is “modest”, but because they love school and love their job, they still work diligently.

“We hope that school staff will receive attention from all levels, and receive additional preferential allowances to improve their family life, so that they will have more motivation to serve the education sector better,” said teacher Tran Thi Thoa, Principal of Ham Rong Primary School.

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