In various regions of mainland China, teachers have been experiencing salary cuts and owed wages. Recently, the Xiqing District of Tianjin issued a new policy to abolish the practice of “lifetime employment upon initial hiring” for teachers in public schools, breaking the traditional notion of a secure job for in-service teachers, sparking controversy.
According to the “Implementation Plan for the Management of Teachers’ Contract Period in Xiqing District Primary and Secondary Schools (Trial)” issued by the Xiqing District Education Bureau and the Xiqing District Human Resources Bureau, starting from August 1, all public schools in the district will fully implement a system of teacher hiring and position management, eliminating the concept of “lifetime employment upon initial hiring”.
The new regulations cover a wide range, including all in-service teachers engaged in educational teaching in public primary and secondary schools, kindergartens, special education schools, and personnel in other positions within the education system.
Teachers will be employed on a contract basis for a period of 3 years, with the assessment results categorized generally as qualified or unqualified.
The new rules stipulate that assessment results will serve as the basis for adjusting a teacher’s position, determining position levels, evaluating titles, distributing performance-based salaries, and renewing, terminating, or ending the employment contract.
On July 8, China Newsweek reported that the new policy also includes clear guidelines that require meeting “basic requirements” and “professional requirements” during the contract period.
For example, in the annual comprehensive evaluation of each teacher, the overall satisfaction rate from student evaluation, peer evaluation, parent evaluation, etc., should be above 85%, with no individual evaluation lower than 75%.
The “professional requirements” are related to a teacher’s personal title. From second-grade teachers and below to senior teachers, the educational tasks are generally the same, such as taking on responsibilities like class teacher, grade level leader, or middle management roles at the school, while also completing other assigned tasks by the school.
Additionally, there are teaching tasks, educational research tasks, demonstration and leadership tasks, and lifelong learning tasks.
Regarding the abolition of permanent positions and the implementation of contract employment for teachers, Xiong Bingqi, the director of the 21st Century Education Research Institute, told China Newsweek that in recent years, some areas have faced tight staffing situations, reaching full capacity, requiring reforms in staffing quotas to recruit new teachers.
Xiong Bingqi mentioned that in a certain region last year, 76 contract teachers were dismissed in one go.
Prior to this, places like Beijing, Ningbo, and others have also undergone similar reforms in their teacher workforce.
For instance, the Fengtai Educational Development Council in Beijing passed measures for promoting the reform of “district-managed school hiring” in primary and secondary schools in Fengtai District, emphasizing strengthening annual teacher evaluations and the utilization of assessment results, while establishing a mechanism for teacher exit.
According to the National Education Development Statistics Bulletin released by the Ministry of Education of the Communist Party of China, in 2022, there were a total of 18.8036 million full-time teachers in China.
On July 8, the topic of “New regulations introduced in a location in Tianjin breaking the secure job of in-service teachers” aroused heated discussions among mainland Chinese netizens:
“Shouldn’t we start with government officials and civil servants first, if the public is dissatisfied, they should resign?” “One question: Are the ratios of teachers to primary and secondary school students meeting the standards? Which secure job, between teachers and civil servants, is more in need of streamlining and significantly reducing staff?” “The individuals who introduced this policy clearly do not understand education.”
“In fact, teachers are at the bottom of the food chain in terms of job security. When will government agencies switch to a contract employment system be considered social progress?” “Funny! Are there still people willing to engage in education? Using education as a scapegoat in the name of reform! Targeting the softest target.”
“In terms of the importance of positions, it is obvious that teachers are much more important than so-called civil servants! Actually, teacher salaries are not high considering the hard work they put in compared to civil servants. If the positions for teachers are further abolished, it can be foreseen that there will be fewer truly outstanding teachers in the future! If there is a need for some to leave permanent positions, hopefully, it will be the group of civil servants.”
“Aren’t you afraid that all good teachers will be lured away by high-paying private institutions? In that case, all the good teachers will be in extremely expensive private schools, which would truly be a tragedy for the education of the next generation.”
“Teachers need job security, which provides the best value for their services. Without good pay, we won’t have good teachers. Teachers also need to eat. As for dealing with the issue of poor-performing teachers within the system, it can be addressed using other methods. Reform should not mean tearing down everything and starting over.”
“Why not abolish it all? What’s the difference between teachers in permanent positions and other professions in permanent positions? Which one doesn’t require responsibility and conscience? Which one doesn’t need passion and dedication, which one doesn’t need a noble spirit of serving the people? Why only target teachers?”
“It is estimated that there are fewer and fewer children, and there are fewer resources to provide so much job security. Local financial pressures are increasing, and with the declining birth rates, regions are gradually exploring mechanisms for dismissing teachers, which is an inevitable trend. There is no longer a need for so many teachers, so they are considering reducing stability to cut down on expenses.”
Since 2023, reports have been emerging from various parts of China indicating that due to reduced government financial subsidies, workers in career fields such as teachers and doctors have been experiencing owed wages, salary cuts, and even forced refunds of performance bonuses, leading to discussions among netizens about China entering an era of widespread salary reductions and wage arrears for all.