Nguyen Thanh Son, headmaster of the Thuong Phung Primary School for Ethnic Minorities Semi-Boarding School in Meo Vac district in the northern mountainous province of Ha Giang, told VietNamNet that with a limited budget, the school can offer a bonus of VND500,000 to every teacher so they can return to their hometowns to celebrate Tet with families.

“In our remote area, schools don’t have extra income. The school has to save every dong to have money for Tet bonuses,” said Nguyen Thi Nga, deputy headmaster of Meo Vac Town Primary School. “Every teacher will receive a gift package consisting of liquor and sweets." She said the gifts, worth VND500,000 each, are the results of an entire year practicing thrift.

The teachers with longer employment duration have more money for Tet holiday, because their salary coefficients are higher. Meanwhile, VND500,000 is nearly nothing for young teachers. The money they receive for Tet holiday may be just enough for a train ticket to their hometown. Nga, for example, will return to Thanh Hoa province for a family reunion.

Ho Tuan Anh, headmaster of Quynh Phuong Secondary School in Nghe An Province, said Tet bonuses of public schools come from different sources, from thrift applied in regular expenses, and from extra teaching and trade union. 

Some schools can also get money from canteen and parking services. It is expected that every teacher of his school will get a VND1-1.2 million Tet bonus.

Teachers at public schools in HCM City and Hanoi can expect higher Tet bonuses than their colleagues in remote areas.

Luong Du Mai, headmaster of Cach Mang Thang Tam Secondary School in District 10, said she is happy as the Tet bonus this year is likely to be higher than last year. It is expected that each teacher will receive a bonus equal to one-month salary.

As for private schools, Nguyen Quang Tung, headmaster of Lomonosov School in Hanoi, has promised to offer a 13th-month salary for teachers. Every teacher will receive about VND15 million.

Meanwhile, university students are also looking forward to receiving Tet bonuses from their schools.

Hoa Sen University said it plans a budget of billions of dong for Tet bonuses to students. The University of Foreign Trade will give VND100,000 to each student. All students of the International School of the Hanoi National University will receive VND99,999, since ‘9’ is a lucky number.

Ngan Anh - Thanh Hung