The salary system is an important starting point for stabilizing and motivating talents. As the main force in the cultivation of talents in colleges and universities, the treatment of teachers has always attracted much attention.
A few days ago, some netizens left a message on the website of the Zhejiang Provincial People's Government: "The salary level of teachers in colleges and universities in Zhejiang Province does not match the overall level of economic and social development in Zhejiang Province", in this regard, the Zhejiang Provincial Department of Education replied that in recent years, the provincial colleges and universities have implemented a dynamic growth mechanism of performance salary linked to performance appraisal results and some financial indicators, and teachers' salary income has increased steadily. In view of the treatment gap, we have begun to carry out research on reforming and improving the performance-based salary policy of provincial universities, and will give colleges and universities greater autonomy in income distribution on the basis of appropriately adjusting the salary income of colleges and universities.
Since the state implements hierarchical management and management of schools at all levels and of all types, in order to attract and retain outstanding talents, all localities have implemented or introduced more preferential wage and treatment policies. However, due to various factors such as the financial strength of local governments, there is a certain gap in income and treatment between schools in different regions and schools with different affiliations in the same area.
However, on the whole, the salary of teachers in mainland universities is not high, especially for young teachers. The Talent Development Committee of the Chinese Society for Education Development Strategy surveyed more than 10,000 teachers from more than 150 colleges and universities across the country, and found that "higher income and better treatment" was one of the most concerned issues for the young teachers surveyed, accounting for 83%.
Improving the treatment of teachers in colleges and universities and reforming the salary system have become the consensus and expectation of the competent authorities, schools and teachers.
Salary reform is imperative
When it comes to college teachers, adjectives such as holding "iron rice bowls" and high-paid groups in "ivory towers" have become stereotypes for them in society. In fact, this group is also facing the dual pressure of scientific research and teaching, and the assessment requirements are increasing, but the salary is just enough for the other side of life.
At present, most domestic colleges and universities implement the post performance salary system, that is, "basic salary + performance + allowance". For a long time, this salary structure has achieved remarkable results in expanding the autonomy of school distribution and enhancing the incentive role of wages, and has played a positive role in the construction of university faculty, talent training, and scientific research.
However, with the strategic needs of socio-economic and educational power, the current salary system of colleges and universities still needs to be improved. For example, the current performance evaluation system "emphasizes scientific research and neglects teaching", which is difficult to reflect the characteristics and contributions of the multiple responsibilities of ordinary teachers. The salary distribution system is tilted in favor of a small number of high-level talents, which has further widened the salary gap within colleges and universities, and weakened the enthusiasm of the vast majority of ordinary young and middle-aged teachers.
Regarding the problems existing in the salary system of colleges and universities, scholar Hu Yongmei and others suggested in the research paper "Ideal and Reality: Analysis of the Salary Level and Structure of Teachers in Mainland Universities" that a wage increase mechanism should be established to adapt to the level of economic development in various places; Increase special investment in the construction of the teaching team of colleges and universities, and establish a long-term growth mechanism for personnel expenditure; optimize the salary structure of teachers in colleges and universities, and appropriately increase the proportion of teachers' basic salaries; Economically developed provinces are encouraged to formulate basic salary standards that match the level of local economic development, so as to enhance the guarantee function of college teachers' salaries. On the other hand, it is necessary to pay attention to the survival and development of young teachers and provide them with flexible and diverse welfare programs.
Teachers' "salary increases" have been implemented
In recent years, promoting the reform of the salary system of colleges and universities has become an important part of the construction of the teaching team of colleges and universities, and many national departments such as the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Finance have issued documents to promote the reform and implement the "salary increase" for teachers.
In 2020, the Ministry of Education and other six departments pointed out in the "Guiding Opinions on Strengthening the Construction and Reform of the Teacher Team of Colleges and Universities in the New Era" that it is necessary to "explore the establishment of a survey and comparison system for the salary level of colleges and universities, improve and improve the mechanism for determining the salary level and normal growth of colleges and universities, and reasonably determine the salary income level of college teachers on the basis of ensuring the normal adjustment of the basic salary level." ”
In July 2023, the second meeting of the Central Committee for Comprehensively Deepening Reform deliberated and adopted the "Opinions on the Pilot Reform of the Salary System of Colleges and Research Institutes". In February this year, the Ministry of Finance once again mentioned at the meeting that it would support the promotion of the pilot reform of the salary system for universities and research institutes in 2024.
In response to the performance evaluation system, the Ministry of Education proposed in 2021 that participation in teaching and research activities, undertaking proposition invigilation tasks, and guiding students' graduation projects, innovation and entrepreneurship should be included in the workload. The number of papers, projects, project funds and other quantitative indicators of scientific research are not directly linked to the distribution of performance wages and rewards...... Let the teachers who are rooted in the front line of teaching also have the confidence and determination to resist the utilitarianism and short-sightedness of teaching and research.
Driven by relevant policies, provinces and cities are also making changes to "improve the well-being of teachers".
As early as 2020, Shandong Province issued the "Guiding Opinions on Improving the Internal Distribution Methods of Performance Salary in Colleges and Universities", which effectively mentioned that the incentive of performance salary for teaching positions should be increased, and the distribution of performance salary should be tilted towards teachers and teaching, so as to effectively reflect the amount of class hours and work performance of teachers, and better guide teachers to devote themselves to teaching.
In 2022, the Anhui Provincial People's Government issued the Notice on Printing and Distributing Several Policies of Anhui Province to Support the Discipline Construction of Universities, which pointed out that the total amount limit will be relaxed, the reform of the internal evaluation and incentive mechanism of colleges and universities will continue to be promoted, and the increase in performance-based wages in colleges and universities will be increased.
The "14th Five-Year Plan for Education Development in Shanghai" also mentions that the reform of the performance-based salary system of colleges and universities will be deepened, the salary of financial education funds will be used as the basic guarantee of teachers' income, and the level will be gradually improved, and the social service income of colleges and universities will be used for personnel incentive mechanism, and more work and more rewards will be encouraged.
In the wave of salary reform, some colleges and universities have formulated salary reform plans according to the situation of their own universities and made steady progress; Some colleges and universities use real salary increases to inject a shot in the arm for teachers, so that they can really sit down and sit firmly, so that innovative productivity can be stimulated.
In Wuhan University, deepening the reform of the salary system has become the core task of the school's high-quality development, and the school's leadership team has held several meetings, emphasizing the need to form a more scientific, reasonable and efficient salary structure system to stimulate the vitality of the school and the internal motivation of cadres and teachers. Chongqing University said at the 2023 performance-based salary reform plan that the university has conscientiously summarized the relevant experience of implementing performance-based salary and performance appraisal in the past, extensively investigated some brother universities in China, repeatedly calculated relevant data, and continuously improved the existing system to protect the vital interests of every faculty member.
Fudan University has formed a dynamic post allowance system, in which the basic post allowance accounts for 80% and the performance allowance accounts for 20%, and the adjustment is tilted towards excellent teachers and teaching work, and the growth rate of young faculty and staff is the largest, so as to fully mobilize the enthusiasm of the whole university faculty and staff and promote the development of the university. Tianjin University has shifted the focus of management downward through "delegating power, delegating power, delegating power, and providing services", giving college-level units full autonomy in the distribution of performance allowances, and realizing "one college, one policy".
Changchun Institute of Architecture said at a meeting held in April 2023 that it will invest an additional 15 million yuan in the adjustment of salaries and benefits for faculty and staff, further improve the salary system and optimize the salary structure. In June of the same year, Changsha Medical College issued a document saying that in May, the salary of the school's faculty and staff increased by 5,000 yuan per capita/month, and the average monthly salary of the school's faculty and staff who have been employed for more than 3 years reached 16,880 yuan after the increase.
Strengthening the construction of the teaching staff of colleges and universities and promoting the reform of the salary system of college teachers are the inevitable requirements of the development of the times. Only by establishing a scientific, fair and reasonable salary system can we enable college teachers to have no worries, give full play to the initiative and enthusiasm of the talent team, and fundamentally ensure the high quality of higher education.
Source: Ranking