103teaching hours. The base line for teaching hours every semester is 360. In second-
ary schools payments are mode above 360 h at 6 yuan per teaching hour for senior
teachers. In primary schools the rate is 5 yuan for senior teachers, 4.5 yuan for first
rank, and 4 yuan for second rank or those unranked. The structured salary is paid
all at once at the end of the term. The formula is: actual subsidy = personal sub-
sidy + teaching hour pay × (actual teaching hours—360).
This performance pay system is intended to be based on the principle of pay
according to the amount of work. However there are some problems in implemen-
tation. Firstly, a regular salary is a fundamental feature of the treatment of school
teachers, especially rural teachers. The salary should be paid on time and in full.
But the implementation of the structured salary system means that payments
are delayed and this has had an adverse effect on the motivation of teachers. For
example in Huaziping central primary school the teacher’s salary is 1200 yuan/
month, but he or she only receives 840 yuan. The rest will be paid at the end of
the term (5 months later) when the assessment of performance is made. Secondly,
under this system, teachers who receive the reward regard the bonus as a part of
their basic salary instead of an extra reward, and it therefore does not motivate
them to work more effectively. In contrast those who do not meet the standard and
do the extra hours cannot get the structured salary and feel their basic salary is
not guaranteed. The performance related mechanism is seen as affecting teacher’s
basic salary rather than being an additional payment and this seems to affect its
value in motivating teachers. Thirdly, substitute teachers’ salary are already low.
They are now also included in structured pay system. The delay in paying their
income has a bigger relative effect than for regular teachers.
The implementation of performance related pay differs between areas. In
Liuqie the township central primary school of Zhaojue, performance related pay
is assessed by six standards: teacher’s professional behaviour, attendance record,
teaching and administration appraisal, teaching hours, safety, and teaching inputs.
Only formal teachers are under this system. Understanding of the system is still
limited. Other empirical studies show that: 46 % of teachers basically understand
the system and a similar proportion have little understanding with 6.5 % saying
they do not know at all. Some teachers are confused between the 70 % allocated
as the basic salary (Ning 2011 ) and the bonus part which accounts for 30 % of the
total. Some regard the bonus as included in the basic salary since it was introduced
without an overall pay rise.
5.5 Mobility and Stability of Rural Teachers
Teacher turnover has long been a problem in some rural areas which have been
seen as less desirable than working in cities and townships. The pace of devel-
opment has changed the map of rural China since it has made many areas more
accessible as a result of improved infrastructure. It has created the possibility
of commuting to villages from small towns and conditions in rural areas have