No plan to increase salaries for education staff at present: Ministry of Planning and Finance

There are no plans to increase the salaries of education staff at present, said Daw Than Than Lin, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Planning and Finance. This was stated by Daw Than Than Lin, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Planning and Finance, in response to a question from Daw San San Htay, a Member of Parliament for Dagon Myothit (South) Constituency, Yangon Region, at the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw session held today (July 27), asking whether there are plans to provide appropriate allowances or salary increases to education staff. According to the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Planning and Finance, all civil servants serving in government departments and organizations, including the Ministry of Education, are entitled to receive allowances such as salary rates set according to their rank, monthly additional allowances, annual uniform allowances, house rent allowances in accordance with regulations for staff who do not reside in government housing and live at their own expense, regional allowances for civil servants serving in remote and socially difficult areas, daily allowances for official travel, actual travel expenses, and accommodation expenses set according to rank. Furthermore, he added that monthly allowances are being provided to principals and teachers in the education sector according to the prescribed rates. The Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Planning and Finance stated that at present, all civil servants, including education staff, are entitled to receive salary rates according to their rank, as well as additional allowances, uniform allowances, house rent allowances, regional allowances set according to rank, actual travel expenses for official travel, daily allowances, accommodation expenses, and allowances granted with specific provisions, and that these rates are determined and granted based on the country's budget capacity. "Therefore, I would like to clearly state that the government currently has no plans to provide appropriate allowances or salary increases to education staff," said Daw Than Than Lin, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Planning and Finance. The Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Planning and Finance explained that when the government considers increasing the salary rates of civil servants as a national policy, it is carried out by analyzing and evaluating the country's financial situation, inflation rates, current allowance rates, total number of employees, number of employees by rank, pensioners related to salary increases, length of service, savings, and daily wage rates, as well as budget capacity. He further clarified that when the country increases the salary rates of civil servants, it adopts a policy of increasing salaries for all civil servants in all ministries, including education staff, rather than increasing salaries only for education staff. He also explained that for principals of education staff serving in universities, degree colleges, colleges, technological institutes, and basic education schools, a monthly administrative allowance of 10 percent of their initial salary according to their rank is provided, and for education staff teachers, monthly allowances are provided according to their highest degree, such as 30,000 kyats for PhD holders, 25,000 kyats for Master's, Master of Philosophy, and Master of Research degree holders, and 10,000 kyats for postgraduate diploma holders.