Is the 70% bonus paid based on the teacher's salary?

Question

They say that the newly introduced 70% bonus is not related to the monthly salary of teachers, but only the money paid for the difference between the categories. That is, they say that when the category increases, if the teacher achieves a 70% bonus, only 500 thousand soums will be added to his salary. How true is this?

Reply

Currently, a 70 percent bonus is being established for teachers who have a qualification certificate based on international standards. This is provided for in the Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan dated May 26, 2023 No. UP-79.

Paragraph 3v of this Decree provides for the introduction of the practice of issuing a qualification certificate to teaching staff based on international standards, with an additional payment of 70 percent of the current tariff rates to teaching staff who have received a qualification certificate based on international standards.

According to the Regulation "On remuneration of employees of public education," approved by the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers No. 275 of December 21, 2005, the salaries of pedagogical staff are formed on the basis of the basic tariff rates established for the position and qualification category.

The basic tariff rate includes the tariff rate on the Unified tariff grid and permanent surcharges to the tariff rate established by law, as well as compensation payments added to the wages of certain categories of teachers and managers.

According to the Regulation "On the procedure for compiling classes and forming tariff lists in general education institutions":

• the basic tariff rate is the amount of the basic fee established by the teacher's education and qualification category for one hour of classes;

• the teacher's tariff rate is a quantity determined based on the basic tariff rate established for one rate based on the class hours assigned to the teacher.

In this case, if the teacher teaches more than one rate, the amount of their basic tariff rate will increase accordingly.

That is, if the procedure for providing a 70 percent bonus to teachers who have a qualification certificate based on international standards comes into force, this bonus will have to be paid in relation to the current amounts of their tariff rates.

In this case, if the teacher receives a special qualification certificate that meets international standards, he must receive a 70 percent bonus to his monthly salary.

For example, if the monthly salary of a high-class teacher is 4 million soums, and this teacher also receives an international certificate, an additional 70 percent, that is, 2 million 800 thousand soums, should be added to his salary.

In this case, the total monthly salary of a high-class teacher with a special qualification certificate that meets international standards will be 4 million + 2 million 800 thousand = 6 million 800 thousand soums.

If the new procedure comes into force and the 70% bonus is taken into account not in relation to the current amount of teachers' tariff rates, but simply between qualification categories in order to save budget funds, then the requirement of the Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan dated May 26, 2023 No. DP-79 is considered to be clearly violated.

We believe that the Ministry of Preschool and School Education, in order to justify the trust of many teachers, will unconditionally fulfill the requirements established by this Decree and ensure that the 70 percent allowance is calculated based on the current tariff rates, and will develop and submit to the Cabinet of Ministers a mechanism that fully stimulates the work of teachers.