UNICEF Mongolia - Teachers College Columbia University

CHAPTER 4: THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE 2007 SALARY REFORM AT SCHOOL LEVEL
load of 646 hours is extremely low. The average for OECD countries is 779 hours per year in primary
school, 701 hours in lower secondary school, and 656 in upper secondary school. 29 It is important to
note that there is no direct relaon between educaonal quality and statutory teaching load of teachers.
For example, Finland (league leader in PISA 2002) prescribes an annual statutory teaching load of 677
hours for primary teachers, 592 for lower secondary teachers, and 550 for upper secondary teachers. In
contrast, the statutory teaching load of teachers in the United States is on the other end of the extreme,
as they are required to teach 28-30 hours per week, or annually slightly over 1,000 hours.
In pracce, seventy percent of teachers in Mongolia average 697 paid hours per year rather than the
statutory teaching load of 646 hours. Thus, the proposion to increase the statutory teaching hours
for teachers in Mongolia is related to the school curriculum (mainly in primary school), and would be a
maer of adjusng the regulaon to reflect the current pracce in schools.
4.2. A MORE PREDICTABLE AND TRANSPARENT INCOME
There were three features of the previous salary structure (pre-2007 salary reform) that made the
teacher salary unpredictable and non-transparent:
• Fragmentaon
• Deducons from salary supplements
• Bonus system
These elements will be addressed in the following secons.
4.2.1. Fragmentation
Back in 2005, teachers and educaon managers who were interviewed in the PETS Mongolia study
were not able to specify how much money they were making for the past or current month because
the salary was fragmented and the extent of supplement deducons was unpredictable. At present,
the salary structure is slightly less fragmented than in 2005. There are several components that make
up the salary of a teacher in Mongolia in 2012. The following list and Figure 14 illustrate the various
components of today’s salary structure:
• Base salary (5 salary categories, determined by years of experience)
• Addional teaching hours
• Supplements for funcons:
o class teacher
o cabinet
o head of secon
• Supplement for rank (lead teacher, methodologist, advisor)
• Bonuses for performance:
o Quarterly allowance (A, B, C)
o Outcomes-based addion/bonus
o Olympiads, compeon
• Benefits for public servants/teachers (from central budget and local budget)
1
2
3
4
5
6
TEACHERS IN MONGOLIA: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY ON RECRUITMENT INTO TEACHING,
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT, AND RETENTION OF TEACHERS
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29 See OECD. (2001). Educaon at a Glance: OECD Indicators. Paris: OECD (see indicator D4, p. 422 ff.).