On 26/12/2024, the Dak Lak Department of Education and Training announced that this issue has persisted since the 2020-2021 school year, primarily affecting primary schools. The problem stems from schools organizing two sessions daily while facing a teacher shortage. As a result, thousands of tenured teachers have taken on extra teaching hours.

The state budget does not allocate funds for this group. Additionally, recurrent expenditures in some communes and wards are too low to cover these payments.

For example, at Nguyen Duc Canh Primary School in Buon Ma Thuot ward, teachers are owed 1,2 billion VND for over 6,500 extra teaching periods. Ho Trung Kien, Head of the Culture and Social Affairs Department, stated that the total for the entire ward amounts to about 3 billion VND.

The Department of Education has urged local authorities to balance their budgets to allocate funds and settle the payments. If they are unable, the department will report the matter to higher levels for consideration.

The gate of Nguyen Duc Canh Primary School, Buon Ma Thuot ward, Dak Lak province. Photo: School Fanpage

Under the new general education program, primary schools are mandated to organize two teaching sessions per day, with parents not required to pay for the second session. The first session covers the main curriculum, while the second focuses on activities such as knowledge reinforcement, life skills education, experiential learning, career orientation, reading culture, financial literacy, digital competency, sports, arts, artificial intelligence, and local history and culture studies.

At higher education levels, including junior high and high school, this program is implemented incrementally and is not yet mandatory.

Tran Hoa