Luu Binh Nhuong, a National Assembly's Deputy

‘I risk my life to teach’

Ho Thi My Dung, a teacher at Vu Bon Secondary School, on March 9 was called to the district people’s committee and told that local authorities were going to terminate her labor contract – an unlimited employment contract signed between Dung and Nguyen Sy Ky, who was chair of the district in 2011-2015.

Dung was stunned by the news.

She told reporters that she had gone through many hardships in the last eight years since she had begun working to fulfill assigned tasks.

Every day, she has to cross a bridge made with three small planks which span a river with swift water. 

Being a teacher in a remote area, Dung received starvation wages, and did not receive an allowance or pay rise after many years of working. 

In 2016, the school unexpectedly cut her wage to VND1 million. Dung had to take extra jobs to earn a living. 

“I sell rice gruel in the morning and teach in the afternoon,” she said.

Despite hardships, Dung never thought of giving up the job. But she is in danger of being sacked.

“That’s unfair,” Dung complained.

Who is to blame?

The issue originated from mistakes made by three district chairs in the past. The former chairs set up new branches of schools and recruited more teachers.

Recently, provincial authorities discovered the mistakes and found that 521 teachers are redundant. The district authorities decided to terminate the labor contracts signed with the teachers.

Local newspapers, which say the teachers are ‘victims of the district leaders’, commented that teachers are not primarily upset about their wages (VND1-2 million a month) but instead the opportunity to become official teachers to get a salary from the state.

A shock to national education

“This is a deep wound to the entire national education system, not only to the 500 teachers who are about to lose jobs,” said Luu Binh Nhuong, a member of the National Assembly’s Committee for Social Affairs, commenting that the huge number of teachers dismissed at the same time shows the seriousness of the problem.

“There are two important subjects in education – students and teachers. The teaching staff still is not programed or trained to be used in a professional way. This means education ‘lives in want’,” Nhuong said.

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