Inadequate number of commune officials in education management: Need to add specialized human resources

TP - After more than a month of implementing the two-level local government model, a series of shortcomings have been revealed in the management of education at the grassroots level, especially the arrangement of officials without education expertise to be in charge of this field at the commune and ward levels. In many places, the percentage of education officials with qualifications and professional experience is only 20-30%, leading to confusion, overload, and even the inability to carry out professional instructions according to regulations.

Set up a rapid response team

After more than 1 month of operating the two-level local government, according to the Ministry of Education and Training , the unit had to establish a "Rapid Response Team" and inspect and review the situation of education activities in the locality. Initial results showed that difficulties and problems arose, especially related to the lack of expertise and experience of staff assigned to manage preschool, primary and secondary education in communes and wards.

Localities reported to the Ministry of Education and Training that up to 50% of commune-level administrative units do not have officials who have worked in the education sector to monitor and manage the state in the field, and in some places only 20-30% of commune-level education officials have professional qualifications or experience.

According to a teacher in Hue City, this reality can easily lead to "conflicts in activity schedules" and "overload" because each level requires reporting and organizing separate activities, causing difficulties for school operations.

With the majority of commune cadres not having educational expertise, without timely adjustment and supplementation, directing, guiding or evaluating professional activities is impossible.

Mr. Nguyen Cao Cuong, Principal of Thai Thinh Secondary School (Hanoi), said that in preparation for the new school year, the school has a lot of work to do. With the new model, the school also has difficulties, but will proactively "ask for jobs".

If the Social and Cultural Office of the commune or ward has any work that the principal is familiar with, they can support and advise in the initial stages to ensure everything goes smoothly.

Ms. Tran Thi Phuong, Head of the Department of Culture and Society of Thanh Liem Ward (Ninh Binh), said that the department has to be in charge of many areas with a large amount of work but only has 5 staff.

“We have the spirit of “working during the day is not enough, so we work at night”, but many new and complicated tasks such as consulting on decisions, receiving, announcing retirement… are also stuck, we have to go back and forth to ask for opinions from the Department of Education and Training”, Ms. Phuong said.

On the eve of the new school year, the confusion of commune-level management teams in directing education is a difficulty for schools.

Some people think that some functions and tasks should be transferred to the principal, but it is also very difficult. She gave an example, regarding the issue of national standard schools, in the criteria for standard schools, there will be facilities (taken care of by the commune) and staff (taken care of by the Department of Education and Training).

If assigned to the principal, who cannot decide both of the above issues, if not careful, will fall into a vicious circle. Therefore, in terms of functions and management tasks, they must still be assigned to the commune and ward levels.

Clearly define the responsibilities of the department and commune.

Dr. Sai Cong Hong, Association of Vietnamese Universities and Colleges, said that according to regulations, education management officials are not required to study at a pedagogical university, but need a professional degree appropriate to the recruitment position and the functions and tasks of the job. In which, "appropriate expertise" must be understood as a person whose training is directly related to the functions and tasks of the job he is doing and will do.

In education management, in addition to pedagogy, assigned staff can study subjects such as education management, pedagogy, public administration, law, economics, public administration, etc.

When implementing the two-level government model, it is possible that the management agencies have not fully anticipated the reality to have warnings and reminders regarding the arrangement of commune-level civil servants. “Because basically, when becoming a two-level government, education department specialists must be assigned to communes and wards. If there is a shortage of human resources, we will have to supplement and mobilize people with appropriate expertise such as from schools,” said Mr. Hong.

Mr. Nguyen Dac Vinh, Chairman of the National Assembly's Committee on Culture and Education, said that the unit has coordinated with the Ministry of Education and Training to organize a discussion to listen to the opinions of cadres from the grassroots to see what problems and difficulties there are.

In fact, wards and communes manage preschool, primary and secondary schools due to their proximity to the grassroots level and the current commune-level model is very different from before, especially the team of highly qualified staff, most of whom are transferred from the district level to work.

“With the current difficulties, the Ministry of Education and Training will listen and have solutions to support the commune level more with the spirit of not doing things to cope, but to do things with the goal of improving education development.” Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son

According to Mr. Vinh, there are 3 issues that need attention and resolution. Firstly, the current decentralization and assignment of tasks are quite clear, but the implementation and organization of specific tasks in practice, related to each individual, need to be reviewed according to each functional group and task.

Second, with the new government model, it is necessary to determine the requirements for commune and ward civil servants. There must be timely and regular training, development, and answers to questions about new tasks, new personnel, and new models.

Third, it is necessary to emphasize and pay more attention to the correlation between four groups of subjects: educational institutions; People's Committees of communes and wards; Department of Education and Training and Ministry of Education and Training. In particular, it is necessary to clearly note the tasks, decentralization and delegation of authority during the implementation process.

Source: https://tienphong.vn/bat-cap-can-bo-xa-tay-ngang-quan-ly-giao-duc-can-bo-sung-nhan-luc-co-chuyen-mon-post1767352.tpo