The central government plans to allocate up to 40 billion yuan
(US$4.94 billion) to cover the salaries of teachers in rural areas,
and to gradually stop the "temporary teacher" practice, China
Business News reported on Monday.
Dogged by financial problems, local governments in the rural
areas have not been paying teachers their salaries or bonuses,
according to Lu Yugang, a senior official with the Ministry of
Education. It is estimated that unpaid salaries of rural
teachers in 2004 totaled 10 billion yuan.
500 yuan a month for a primary school teacher, and 800 yuan a
month for a middle school teacher amount to a annual expenditure of
44.6 billion yuan for the 3.8 million teachers working in rural
areas, Lu said.
The ministry plans to include the rural teachers' salaries in
its annual budget to ensure they get paid and on time.
The "temporary teacher practice", under which rural schools hire
people without teachers' certificates to work as full-time
teachers, will also be stopped, Lu said.
China's rules stipulate that only those with a teacher's
certificate can teach in schools, but rural schools cannot offer
high enough salaries to attract and maintain such qualified people.
They end up hiring someone who is willing to take the job but has
no license. In some places, junior high school students are being
taught by "temporary teachers" who themselves have only junior high
school education. That practice cannot ensure the quality of
education.
The newspaper said there are about 500,000 "temporary teachers"
in rural areas. Previous media reports have said these teachers
have made a great contribution to China's education, but many of
them are paid only 40 yuan a month, and some for as long as for the
last 20 years.
Lu said the ministry will work out a plan to "properly arrange
the future of these 'temporary teachers'."
(Shanghai Daily December 20, 2005)