Municipal governments in at least two provinces in China are facing criticisms after failing to pay teachers on time, according to Chinese media reports.

Some teachers in the eastern Chinese province of Anhui have reportedly not received their performance-based salaries for a year. The local government has also failed to pay subsidies, allowances and bonuses, including some that date back to 2018.

The scandal, which occurred in Anhui’s Panji district, was revealed last month when internet users reported it to Li Jinbin, the Communist Party secretary of the province

The municipal government has since acknowledged the delay in payments, which it attributed to its own financial woes and the economic effects of COVID-19.

“There is a lot of downward pressure in the economy, and due to historical reasons, namely the corruption of our past party secretary and district leader, we have accrued debts totaling a few billion yuan,” said one staffer at the Panji district education ministry.

“We are now facing immense pressures in terms of solvency and paying wages.”

Panji’s education ministry is in the process of raising money and hopes to be able to pay teachers later this month.

There have also been reports of delayed salaries in the cities of Suzhou and Bozhou in Anhui.

Multiple districts in Liaoning province in northern China have also failed to pay their teachers, according to mainland news outlet The Paper.

The affected regions include Kangping county in Shenyang, Gaizhou city in Yingkou and the Xiuyan Manchu Autonomous County in Anshan. Aside from educators, some civil servants in Kangping have also reported unpaid salaries.

The issue of outstanding salaries entered the media spotlight recently when it was reported that teachers in Dafang county in Guizhou province were owed wages that go as far back as 2015.

Click here for Chinese version

---------------------------------

Apple Daily’s all-new English Edition is now available on the mobile app: bit.ly/2yMMfQE

To download the latest version,

iOS: bit.ly/AD_iOS

Android: bit.ly/AD_android

Or search Appledaily in App Store or Google Play