UNICEF Mongolia - Teachers College Columbia University

CHAPTER 5: TOTAL PAY OF TEACHERS AND THE BONUS SYSTEM
1
2
3
Figure 17: Average Income of Teachers in the Low-Income Category
Base Salary
298,428 MNT
0 Additional
Teaching Hours
0 MNT
4
5
6
Low-Income
Total Pay
317,079 MNT
No Supplements
for Functions
0 MNT
Supplement for
Rank:
0 MNT
Bonuses for
Performance
18,651 MNT
General Benefits
for all Public
Servants
TEACHERS IN MONGOLIA: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY ON RECRUITMENT INTO TEACHING,
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT, AND RETENTION OF TEACHERS
High-income total pay (Figure 16): 546,737 MNT. The second teacher (teacher code 40) represents the
group of teachers who are in the high-income category. 36 Her base salary reflects that of a teacher who
has worked for 19-24 years, teaches six addional hours, is given a rank supplement of 15 percent,
receives all three funconal supplements, and has received a quarterly bonus of 40 percent.
Low-income total pay (Figure 17): 317,079 MNT. The third teacher (teacher code 62) is in the lowest
base salary category, because she has only one to five years of teaching experience and does not earn
any supplements with the excepon of a 25 percent quarterly performance bonus.
The empirical data on teacher salaries, retrieved from the interviews with the teachers (N=123) at schoollevel,
show that the average monthly teacher salary with supplements is 374,181 MNT. The salary for
low-income teachers (typically young teachers with few addional hours and no supplements) is on
average 317,079 MNT per month. At the other end of the spectrum are teachers in the high-income
category. They are typically experienced and hold the tle of methodologist teacher or advisor teacher.
Precisely because they are experienced, they are allocated more teaching hours, are given addional
supplements, and receive more awards than the inexperienced or regular teacher. The high-end salary
for this group of teachers averages 546,737 MNT per month.
It cannot be sufficiently reiterated that these figures on the total monthly pay of teachers represent
entled salary amounts or minimum salaries. In reality, teachers may earn more because the school
affords to pay them more, and also because they receive benefits for public servants paid from the
central as well as the local budgets.
80
36 We did not include teachers that won big awards on Olympiads as this would have biased the average of teachers with a high
total pay. Two teachers in the database won awards at Olympiads in the amount of 100,000 MNT each and this parcular teacher
(teacher code 40) also won 100,000 MNT as part of the outcomes-contract. With the excepon of the quarterly performance bonus
of 40 percent, we did not include the yearly given Olympiad and outcomes-contracts bonuses.