The Minister of Education and Training said that the policy is not to ban teachers from teaching extra classes, only if they violate professional ethics. At noon on November 20, after listening to 37 opinions and two debates, contributing to the draft Law on Teachers, Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son explained and clarified the issues that delegates were concerned about. According to the Minister, November 20 is the New Year's Day for teachers, and this year that happiness was multiplied when the National Assembly discussed the Law on Teachers. "Not to mention the content, just the fact that the Government and the National Assembly agreed to draft the law is a great recognition and encouragement for us," he said. The Commander of the Education sector said that before the National Assembly discussed, a few teachers texted him to express their concerns and asked the Minister to recommend the National Assembly Chairman to move the date to another day. They said that on November 20, millions of teachers were watching, "if someone said something offensive, they probably wouldn't be able to bear it". "But I said it was okay, this was the great concern of the National Assembly for teachers. The congratulations that Vice President of the National Assembly Nguyen Thi Thanh said at the beginning of the discussion session were very touching, many people were happy, but perhaps today I was the happiest person", the Minister of Education and Training shared. Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son. Photo: National Assembly Media Minister Nguyen Kim Son. Photo: National Assembly Media Responding to the opinions of delegates Nguyen Van Canh, Chamaléa Thi Thuy and Do Huy Khanh about "requiring weak groups to take extra classes" and having policies to meet the needs of students and parents to take extra classes, Mr. Son said "The Ministry's policy is not to prohibit extra classes but to prohibit extra classes that violate the ethics of teachers and professional principles, such as forcing students". Previously, the Ministry's representative affirmed that extra teaching and learning are real needs of both teachers and students. This does not need to be banned or criticized. The issue that makes public opinion angry is that students have to take extra classes taught by teachers outside, even though they do not want to. Currently, teachers are not allowed to teach extra classes outside of school with their regular students, without the principal's permission. The Ministry of Education and Training is developing new regulations, eliminating formal procedures. For example, instead of asking for permission from the principal, teachers can teach but need to make a list of students, report to the principal and commit not to force them. At the same time, teachers do not use examples, questions, and exercises taught extra to test and evaluate students. The Ministry also proposed to include extra teaching in the conditional business sector, to avoid distortion, facilitate management, and ensure the rights of both teachers and students. On November 18, Ho Chi Minh City National University published a research report on the lives of preschool and primary school teachers, experimental in Binh Thuan, Tay Ninh and Hau Giang. More than 63% of the 12,500 participating teachers want to legally teach extra classes at home and teach online to increase their legitimate income. Teachers said that although the basic salary has increased from 1.8 to 2.34 million VND, their income only meets half (51.8%) of their family's spending needs. About 25.4% of teachers said they are teaching extra classes at school and 8.2% teach outside of school. The main subjects taught extra classes are Math, Literature, English, Physics, Chemistry. Primary school teachers teach an average of 8.6 hours a week, while middle school and high school teachers teach 13.75 and 14.91 hours, respectively. They believe that legalizing tutoring at home helps maintain the noble image of the teaching profession in the eyes of students and society, "better than doing side jobs that are less related to the profession". Directly interviewing more than 130 teachers and administrators, the research team said that many people see tutoring as a real and legitimate need. In addition to the desire to improve their children's academic performance, parents who cannot pick up their children on time after school want to let their children take extra classes to fit their working hours. Education sector does not want special privileges At the National Assembly this morning, speaking more about the draft Law on Teachers, Minister Son said the drafting committee is aiming for a number of specific and different policies compared to the current ones, such as retirement age, salary scale; autonomy mechanism in recruiting and transferring teachers. The Ministry proposed that teachers' salaries be ranked highest in the administrative career salary scale system after studying legal documents and instructions from the General Secretary. "We do not want our sector to have special privileges, benefits or unusual favors. Teachers are responsible, tolerant and altruistic people. Teachers do not accept them living comfortably while letting others be poorer than them," he said. He said the salary proposal is aimed at the majority of the 1.6 million teachers who do not have enough to live on. This group, according to him, "cannot wholeheartedly devote themselves to teaching". In the context of many difficulties in the country, the State cannot "give priority to everyone". Therefore, this is a priority that needs to be given to the top national policy of education. The specific determination of what is considered "a minimum living wage for teachers" will be regulated in detail by the Government.