Joint Circular No. 38-TT/LB guiding the implementation of Circulars No. 168-TTg and No. 169-TTg dated August 4, 1960 of the Prime Minister on certain regulations for teachers supported by the people.

JOINT CIRCULAR

Guidelines for Implementing Circulars No. 168-TTg and No. 169-TTg dated August 4, 1960 of the Prime Minister on Certain Benefits for Teachers Supported by the People

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On August 4, 1960, the Prime Minister issued Circulars No. 168-TTg and No. 169-TTg stipulating certain benefits for teachers supported by the people. The Joint Ministries hereby provide detailed guidelines for implementation as follows:

I. PURPOSE AND SIGNIFICANCE.

The regulations on organizing private schools and certain benefits for private school teachers issued by the Ministry of Education in August 1957 have had a motivating and encouraging effect on private school teachers and have promoted the movement of the people working together with the state to build education.

Today, due to new requirements of the revolution, the education sector must strive to develop and improve the quality of general education at all levels, creating conditions to achieve universal primary education.

As of now, the number of teachers has reached 34,724, of which 19,442 are teachers supported by the people. Currently, this group of teachers is an important force in the education sector for the construction of education.

However, the common understanding of the position and role of private school teachers is not yet accurate, and the current material and spiritual benefits provided to them are significantly different from those provided to teachers supported by the state budget.

Therefore, the Prime Minister's Office has established policies to ensure certain rights and address some of the current difficulties for teachers, while also emphasizing their responsibilities in order to encourage teachers and the people to engage in education.

II. SPECIFIC POINTS.

In socialist schools, the duties of private and public school teachers are the same: In addition to teaching classes, private school teachers must also prepare lessons, grade assignments, participate in extracurricular activities, and engage in various aspects of school development work. Private school teachers, like public school teachers, bear the responsibility of training young people to become future builders of socialism and communism. However, given the current economic situation, it is necessary to rely on the people to develop education, so there are still areas where private school teachers are not treated equally with public school teachers. As the economy continues to develop, the living conditions of teachers supported by the people will continue to improve.

Therefore, to provide spiritual incentives, the Prime Minister's Circular has stipulated that "the rights to political, cultural, and vocational training of teachers supported by the people shall be guaranteed as those of teachers supported by the state budget." Specifically, the government has covered costs related to training, including teacher allowances, program provision, textbook supply, etc., to create conditions and means for private school teachers to teach as effectively as public school teachers.

To provide material incentives, the Prime Minister's Circular has stipulated: "Based on the current financial capacity of the state and the people, it is necessary to implement:

First, it is necessary to ensure the minimum living expenses of teachers, with the minimum living expense level aiming to appropriately reward the efforts of teachers and maintain good relations with other workers who have undergone similar training and have equivalent professional qualifications. Living expenses must be ensured even during summer holidays for teachers of private schools.

For teachers who have worked long-term in the profession, headmasters, and teachers transferred from other regions, the living expenses must be higher, and teachers who teach full grades should receive higher salaries than those who do not teach full grades." Specifically:

1. Regarding Salary Levels:

Up until now, regarding salary standards for teachers, many localities have implemented payment based on labor, but due to the financial capacity of each place, some localities have not been able to implement this principle. The average salary situation remains quite heavy, with excessively low salaries still quite common, so it is also necessary to address this significant disparity.

To meet the above requirements, the Joint Ministries have set the minimum salary levels for each grade as follows:

PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS

New teachers teaching grades 1 and 2 receive a minimum salary of ...26 dong.

New teachers teaching grades 3 and 4 receive a minimum salary of ...30 dong.

SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHERS

New non-full-grade teachers receive a minimum salary of ...35 dong.

New full-grade teachers receive a minimum salary of ...40 dong.

Above, the Joint Ministries only guide the minimum salary levels for each type of new teacher, considering them to still be in the probationary period. For primary school teachers, after one year of teaching, and for secondary school teachers, after 18 months, they may be reviewed to increase their salary. The defined salary levels can be reviewed to increase the minimum salary and other salary levels for different types of teachers, depending on the long-term salary levels already granted, the situation, and the financial capacity of the locality, which can gradually increase, but must consider the scholarship fund, the total amount paid to teachers throughout the year, to further improve the living conditions of private school teachers and pay for 12 months. Specifically:

For full-grade and non-full-grade private school teachers, it is necessary to divide service time into different periods to provide incentives. Calculating years of service in the teaching profession is a standard in the salary policy for teachers. However, the people's support capacity is limited, so applying the service year standard and setting salary levels for each service year cannot be implemented as for public school teachers. But initially, it is necessary to apply part of the service year standard to distinguish between teachers who have served long-term in the profession and those newly entering, and to encourage colleagues to delve deeper into their profession. For example, each service year could be defined as three years, with an increase of 2 to 4 dong. However, when reviewing service years, it is necessary to combine the current ability, spirit, and work attitude.

- For teachers moving from low-cost areas to mountainous areas or from low-cost areas to high-cost areas, their salary must be higher than that of teachers in their original area.

- For teachers who concurrently serve as principals, they shall be entitled to additional monthly allowances, including during summer holidays, according to the provisions set forth in Decision No. 273-QĐ dated July 1, 1960, issued by the Ministry of Education, because these private school principals essentially perform the same duties as public school principals.

Principals eligible for allowances must be teachers officially appointed by the Department. In lowland areas, small schools with three or more classes are required. In mountainous regions, small schools with two or more classes are necessary for the principal to be eligible for allowances.

2. Government Subsidies:

The Directive of the Prime Minister's Office stipulates: "In cases where local education funds are insufficient to cover teacher salaries or where floods, storms, droughts... affect tuition fee collections, the government will consider providing subsidies."

Based on the above spirit, it is necessary to distinguish between two situations:

a) Where local education funds have been fully collected but are still insufficient to cover teacher salaries, starting from the academic year 1960-1961, the Administrative Committees of regions, provinces, and cities shall develop plans to direct the Departments and Offices of Education to classify private teachers, specify specific salary levels for each grade level, define allowances based on salary such as principal allowances, overtime teaching allowances, prepare annual income and expenditure budgets, and submit them for approval and resolution by the Administrative Committees of regions, provinces, and cities.

Note: This subsidy is intended for localities where education funds are insufficient to cover teacher salaries.

b) For localities affected by floods, storms, droughts... impacting tuition fee collection, such as not being able to collect fees at all, or only collecting a small portion, or only collecting about two-thirds, while ensuring adequate salaries for teachers, the Administrative Committees of regions, provinces, and cities shall examine each case specifically to resolve.

Note: This subsidy is a special subsidy that requires significant and irregular public fund support.

In both cases above, according to the principle of special decentralization, these subsidies shall be covered by the budgets of regions, provinces, and cities.

3. Social Insurance and Welfare Benefits:

Regarding social insurance and welfare benefits already recorded in the policy, such as hospitalization, maternity leave, purchasing goods provided, hardship allowances for families with many children, living expenses when studying, exemption from civil service, and child care and lactation allowances, private teachers shall enjoy the same benefits as public teachers.

To implement the spirit of the Prime Minister's Office Directive and to align with the situation of private teachers, the Joint Ministries have established regulations.

- Hospitalization allowance: Private teachers shall be entitled to medical examinations and treatments like public teachers, receiving medication and nutritional supplements provided by hospitals, which their working units will settle with the hospitals. During hospitalization, teachers shall continue to receive full salaries and are responsible for paying the full meal costs to the hospital. The duration of full salary payment will depend on the teacher's years of service in the profession and the capacity of the private fund to provide.

The Ministry of Education will study and guide after the social insurance policies are issued.

- Maternity leave allowance: Female private teachers shall enjoy the same maternity leave benefits as female public teachers (two months of paid leave and childbirth-related allowances such as nutritional supplements and lactation fees).

- Funeral allowance: Upon death, private teachers shall receive funeral allowances equivalent to those for public teachers. Depending on the years of service in the profession, the family may be considered for up to three months' salary as a hardship allowance.

- Purchasing goods provided: From now on, private teachers shall be provided with purchase vouchers by Regions, Departments, and Offices of Commerce similar to those provided to public teachers.

- Living expense allowance when studying: This shall be implemented according to the regulations of the Ministry of Education for public teachers.

- Hardship allowance for families with many children: Teachers with large families facing significant difficulties may be considered for hardship allowances as needed, similar to state employees.

- Childcare and lactation allowance: Female teachers suffering from lactation issues shall receive lactation allowances equivalent to those for state employees.

Regarding childcare organization, sisters should primarily solve this themselves, with the School Union and Child Care Committee connecting with local associations, cooperatives, and childcare organizations to assist.

- Civil service exemption: Private teachers are exempted from civil service duties.

All costs related to social insurance and collective welfare for private teachers shall be covered by the state budget. Administrative Committees of regions, cities, and provinces shall base their calculations of necessary expenditures on local budget forecasts and assign responsibilities to relevant agencies as prescribed.

III. TUITION FEES REGIME.

To ensure full implementation of teacher salary policies, to continue promoting the construction of educational facilities, to enable national education to develop fully and systematically, and to avoid disparities among students from different schools, Circular No. 169-TTg dated August 4, 1960, issued by the Prime Minister's Office, has established a unified tuition fee regime for all primary, secondary, and high school students in both public and private schools, distinguishing between rural and urban areas.

Tuition fees must be commensurate with the contribution capacity of the people, cadres, workers, and officials, and include exemption and reduction policies for the children of martyrs, war invalids, and impoverished families with many children.

To implement the spirit of the above Circular, the Joint Ministries have guided minimum and maximum tuition fee levels, exemption and reduction rules, and the Administrative Committees of regions, provinces, and cities shall refer to these levels to establish tuition fees that closely match the actual conditions of their localities, ensuring the implementation of tuition fee collection policies and teacher salaries.

TUITION FEES

EXEMPTION AND REDUCTION RULES

The exemption and reduction of school fees aims to support families of martyrs, war invalids, and at the same time, support poor families and those with three or more children attending school. When implementing exemptions and reductions, it is necessary to pay attention to ensuring policies for teachers.

Below, the Joint Ministry provides guidance on some principles regarding exemptions and reductions, which localities will base on to specify additional regulations:

- Children of martyrs and fallen soldiers are exempted from all school fees.

- Children of war invalids, depending on their family circumstances, are exempted or reduced by one-third to one-half of the required payment.

- Poor families currently or families with three or more children attending school are granted a reduction of one-third of the tuition fee for each child.

The total amount of exemptions and reductions shall not exceed 10% of the total revenue.

MANAGEMENT OF SCHOOL FEES

 The Prime Minister's Office Circular stipulates: "The School Support Committee assists the local administrative committee in collecting and managing the school fee fund. Expenditures will be managed by the administrative committees of districts, provinces, and cities." The Joint Ministry further explains:

Up until now, the School Support Committees have effectively assisted local administrative bodies in the tasks of collection and distribution, achieving quite good results. However, there are still some places where the school fee fund is spent without a plan (exceeding income such as using the school fee fund for construction, purchasing desks and chairs, awarding prizes, organizing farewell parties for teachers on business trips...), affecting the salary payments to teachers. Some places have been unable to pay summer salaries or ensure monthly salaries for teachers.

To ensure that income and expenditure follow the principles set by the Ministry of Finance, and truly guarantee the stipulated salaries for private school teachers, from now on, the School Support Committees, in addition to their role in promoting education and providing suggestions for educational development in their locality, mobilizing the people to build schools, also have the responsibility to assist the administrative committees in collecting school fees and managing the school fee fund to transfer to the administrative committees of districts, provinces, and cities. All expenditures will be decided by the administrative committees of districts, provinces, and cities.

The school fee fund is only concentrated for paying teachers' salaries, and from now on, the payment of salaries for private school teachers and the management of the school fee fund will be handled by the administrative committees of districts, provinces, and cities. These committees have the responsibility to balance the school fee fund within their respective areas, coordinate state teachers throughout the province and the entire general education sector to reduce the contributions of counties, communes, wards, and towns with many private teachers and schools.

Subsidies are based on the annual budget for income and expenditure for private school teachers, prepared by the Department of Education and approved by the administrative committees of districts, provinces, and cities. If subsidies are needed, the administrative committees of districts, provinces, and cities will resolve them based on the financial capacity of their locality.

IV. ISSUES THAT NEED TO BE ADDRESSED TO IMPLEMENT THE POLICY.

To ensure the implementation of the policy for teachers supported by the people is effective, several actions need to be taken:

1. Widely publicize and deeply disseminate the policy, concretize the policy at each locality, and guide its implementation.

2. Strengthen the organization of private schools, focusing on strengthening the organization of School Support Committees. Improve the management of income and expenditure of the school fee fund.

3. Study plans for coordinating state teachers.

The issues above, through the implementation of the charter of private schools since the restoration of peace, localities have summarized many good experiences. The Joint Ministry requests localities to base these experiences to provide specific guidance to counties, communes, wards, and towns in implementing the policy. The experiences summarized show that places where the policy for teachers has been well implemented have paid special attention to the following points:

- Widely publicize the policy among parents, the people, and key cadres in communes and wards.

- Particularly focus on consolidating the School Support Committees, selecting good parent representatives of students who are reputable among the people, while always paying attention to mobilizing and enhancing the role of representatives in the School Support Committees.

- Schools must take the initiative and play an active role in seeking leadership from Party cells and authorities to support the School Support Committees in performing their duties.

- It is necessary to organize good management of income and expenditure, maintain clear records, and submit timely and clear reports to regular meetings of parents and superiors.

- Regarding the coordination of state and private teachers, most provinces have focused on solving this issue, but it needs to be given more attention at the beginning of the new academic year, aiming to balance teaching quality and the contributions of the people to ensure the implementation of the policy for teachers.

For private school teachers, it is necessary to make them clearly understand the government and people's concern and efforts towards the private teacher workforce, strive to maintain and develop teaching quality, always set a good example, and enhance their sense of responsibility in teaching work, overcome all difficulties to contribute with state teachers in building socialist schools, and be worthy of being outstanding teachers under our system.

The policy for teachers supported by the people is a significant policy, and its implementation results greatly affect the development of general education and the overall education cause.

The Joint Ministry requests all levels of administrative committees, Departments, and Provincial Education Departments to carefully study this policy and the guiding circular to implement it effectively.

During the implementation of the policy, if encountering any difficulties, please report immediately to the Joint Ministry for prompt measures.

Scope of application: This circular applies to all private and state schools in southern provinces. For autonomous regions of Thai-Meo, Viet Bac, and mountainous provinces, where private schools have been permitted to open according to local conditions, a lower tuition fee level may be specified.