Teachers versus Doctors
Apparently yesterday the Armenian goverment approved the draft state budget for the upcoming year. Some of the newspapers are reporting that average salaries for teachers and doctors have increased. As an American it was odd to read that teachers will have an average salary of 74,000 AMD while doctors will have a considerably smaller salary of 42,600 AMD.
posted by Arina at 4:19 PM
8 Comments:
Especially weird when low salaries are one reason why a system of informal under-the-table payments exist in the Armenian healthcare system -- even for services that are meant to be free.
Still, amazing given how much money there is in circulation among a small part of the population that this hasn't manifested itself into higher tax collection and thus, greater social spending.
it's because doctors tend to take a lot of bribes, not so much the teachers. thats why their salary ist twice as high.
bye
john
My wife, a former school teacher in Yerevan, use to receive about 35,000 drams a month. This is after 5 years in that profession. When I told her about this draft, she sarcastically laughed. Apparently, she knows of only 3 people out of a staff of 35 in her former school that made above 65,000 drams. Now most Armenian school teachers have after-school tutoring, but I don't that is inclusive in this budget draft by the Armenian government. On the side, 2 Armenian Doctors we know make a healthy 500,000 drams a month. Officially, they may make between 40,000 & 50,000 drams, but they take in a lot unreported gratuity.
Is the government just surveying the salaries? Or does the budget have some role in setting them? As an American it's odd to think of the inversion of doctors getting less, and, of the government setting salaries.
david, these are doctors employed by the state owned health care system. The private clinics, or private schools are not affected by this except for comptition, i.e. in the unlikely event of a doctor or a teacher employed privately demanding higher salary to match the state employees.
I have heard that teachers take bribes too - especially since they are making such a low salary.
Shelley, they expect 'gifts' for certain occasions. Also, one can get a passing grade with a gift, too, meaning, getting a '3' instead of a '2' so as to not repeat the class.
david,
i'm a teacher in the US and my salary is also set by the government, so I don't see what is so different about that.
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