The minister said that offering Tet bonuses will depend on the means of each locality when it comes to teachers.

“My hands are tied when it comes to improving the situation, as the state budget is not allowed to be used for Tet bonuses,” the minister added.

According to the minister, under current regulations, 80% of the state budget for the education and training sector is used to pay the salaries of teachers and other staff and materials for education. In fact, he added, after the majority of the budget has been spent to pay staff, there is rarely enough to provide enough chalk, paper, pens and other educational supplies.

The minister also said that salary increase for teachers was mentioned in a resolution issued in 1996, however, to date, the situation has not yet been changed.

“I think that the issue of teacher salary involves in many different factors and conditions. It must be based on the economic growth of the national economy,” he said.

Recently, the determination to increase the teachers' salaries and benefits, such as seniority allowances or bonuses, has been reaffirmed in another resolution. The working conditions of professors and associate professors was also mentioned.

However, he also said that, besides the improvement, more strict sanctions will be applied to teachers who violate regulations. “In addition to honouring outstanding educators, we will also dismiss those who are unqualified or otherwise unfit for the job,” the minister emphasised.

2014 will be the first year in which a project on comprehensive educational reform will be implemented. The budget will be carefully considered.

Nonetheless, the teacher salary issue is not included in the project, but will be considered by the national wage reform committee.

Teachers expect no Tet bonuses

While most people across the country are talking about their Tet bonuses, most teachers expect nothing extra this year.

Le Thi Que, a teacher at Tran Phu High School in Tuy An District, Phu Yen Province, has become familiar with the situation.

More than 11,000 teachers at different levels in the Central Highlands Province of Kon Tum have never been given Tet bonuses. Instead they usually receive small gifts, such as clothes, for Tet.