Commune-level education officials 'work and study'

However, many officials in charge of education at the commune level do not have expertise in the field of education. This makes the implementation of educational tasks in the new context confusing.

Training needs

The Department of Culture and Society of many communes and wards in Lai Chau province lacks or does not have specialized staff in education. This is a big challenge in the coming school years. According to Mr. Khong Van Thien - Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Khong Lao commune (Lai Chau), the Department of Culture and Society of the commune has 9 positions but none of the staff has expertise in education, but mainly in law, administration, political education...

“The lack of specialized staff initially made overall management difficult. The implementation of preschool, primary and secondary education programs has since encountered difficulties, affecting the improvement of education quality. Regarding state management, we have proposed to foster and provide in-depth professional training for education staff. Previously, I worked as an education manager, so I directly directed staff to work, learn and gain experience at the same time,” Mr. Thien informed.

Mr. Hoang Duc Thong - Head of the Department of Culture and Society of Khong Lao commune, shared: "Because there are no specialized staff in education, we do not have in-depth expertise in managing educational activities at schools. In the immediate future, we will propose and review those who have previously worked in the Department of Education and Training to request secondment to support in local educational management work."

Hua Bum Commune's Department of Culture and Society was assigned 6 positions, but currently has 5 staff. Of these, only Mr. Tran Quang Trang - Head of the Department has expertise in education. Mr. Trang shared: "The Department does not have any specialists in education, so it is difficult to carry out tasks.

At the same time, since decentralization, there has been no specific guidance document on management work. In the coming time, we hope to increase the staff to have civil servants to carry out educational expertise. At the same time, guidance documents need to be issued soon and specifically so that educational management work is unified and in-depth.

Mr. Le Huu Hong - Chairman of Phong Tho Commune People's Committee informed that the Department of Culture and Society does not have any staff with expertise in education. To ensure effective education management, it is necessary to have staff with expertise. In the coming time, we hope to soon receive in-depth training to improve the capacity of commune-level education management staff. At the same time, guide the role, authority and responsibility of commune-level authorities on a number of educational issues.

Teachers and students of Then Sin Primary Boarding School, Sin Suoi Ho Commune (Lai Chau).

Closely follow the directive

In early August, Cua Lo Ward (Nghe An) organized an inspection and review of the facilities and staff of educational institutions in the area. Mr. Phung Duc Nhan - Vice Chairman of Cua Lo Ward People's Committee said that in the new school year, the biggest difficulty for the education sector in the area is the lack of teachers at all levels from preschool to junior high school. After the inspection and review, the ward will have a plan to arrange and assign teachers to ensure teaching requirements.

Discussing the State management of the education sector of the ward, Mr. Phung Duc Nhan shared that there are advantages but also some difficulties. The Department of Culture and Society of Cua Lo ward has a specialist with education expertise. However, the functions and tasks of the commune-level government are very broad, covering many areas, and in reality there is not enough human resources to arrange staff specializing in education.

“Cua Lo Ward now includes all the old communes and wards of the former Cua Lo town. Meanwhile, the total staff of the ward after streamlining is only 1/3 compared to the district government. Although we have specialized education staff, they all take on many jobs in different fields, which is very hard,” Mr. Phung Duc Nhan shared.

According to the Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Cua Lo Ward, the directives and instructions are complete, so the locality will assign specific roles and tasks to each cadre. Mr. Nhan said that it is not necessary to have educational expertise to be in charge of education. Current cadres need to closely follow the guiding documents to work, promote responsibility, and improve their own capacity to meet new job requirements. As for educational expertise, the Department of Education and Training is directly in charge of schools.

Similarly, Ms. Phan Thi Thuy - Head of the Department of Culture and Society of Con Cuong commune (Nghe An) said that after the first month of confusion, the department has now defined its activities, started to clarify the work, and assigned tasks to each staff member. "The Department of Culture and Society is in charge of areas including internal affairs, culture, education, health, ethnicity... I myself have to learn a lot while working.

Regarding the education sector, I used to be an officer of the Department of Education and Training, but only specialized in preschool education. All the remaining officers and specialists of the department do not have education expertise. Our way of working is to closely follow the directive documents of each sector and field to implement. At the same time, we coordinate with all levels and sectors to organize training for officers in each field of responsibility," Ms. Phan Thi Thuy shared.

According to Ms. Thuy, many management issues related to educational expertise are assigned to the commune level such as: Proposing teacher needs, job positions; proposing a list of textbooks for teaching; organizing competitions for excellent teachers and excellent students at the commune level...

Therefore, in the coming time, Con Cuong commune plans to mobilize management teams and core teachers from schools to support. However, because the commune scale is smaller than the previous district, the source of core teachers will decrease. If there is coordination from the Department of Education and Training in mobilizing and transferring professional teams between communes and wards when implementing educational tasks, it will support the locality to ensure quality and efficiency.

Leaders of the Department of Education and Training of Can Tho City met and worked with leaders of the People's Committees of 103 communes and wards in the area.

Removing difficulties

Nghe An province currently has 130 communes and wards directly managing more than 1,300 kindergartens, primary schools, and secondary schools. According to the leader of the Nghe An Department of Education and Training, previously, the district-level Department of Education and Training had few civil servants, mainly seconded officials. When implementing the two-level local government, only civil servants were assigned to new communes and wards. Seconded officials were arranged to return to school. Therefore, in reality, the number of officials with educational expertise working at the commune level is very small.

Mr. Kha Van Thu - Head of the Department of Culture and Society of Nga My commune (a mountainous and difficult commune of Nghe An province) shared that in the past, the commune level was in charge of State administrative management of schools in the area. However, the plans and programs of educational activities were all developed by the district-level Department of Education and Training and sent to the commune for coordination and implementation. With the current decentralization of management, these tasks are assigned to the commune level.

“None of us have ever managed education or had any related expertise. The commune is considering the option of “sending” some key school managers and teachers to help the Department of Culture and Society carry out educational tasks. We have just completed the work of popularizing preparations for the new school year,” said the Head of the Department of Culture and Society of Nga My commune (Nghe An).

After the merger, Can Tho City has 103 communes and wards with a total of 1,232 schools. When implementing a two-level local government, the Department of Education and Training of Can Tho City faces a number of difficulties.

According to Mr. Nguyen Phuc Tang - Deputy Director of the Department of Education and Training of Can Tho City, in some localities, officials in charge of education (without education expertise) find it difficult to direct and orient. When commune-level management officials do not have education expertise, directing the implementation of programs, plans, innovating teaching methods, and testing and evaluation is difficult according to...

“Some localities with few schools at each level will not have the sharing and support of expertise at the same level, leading to this activity being fragmented, making it difficult to organize activities (contests, seminars) in clusters of schools, inter-school professional activities, affecting the quality of professional improvement for teachers. Organizing competitions: Excellent homeroom teachers, Excellent teachers at the commune level... will encounter difficulties, leading to the professional quality of the competitions not being high (in fact, there are localities that only have one school)”, Mr. Nguyen Phuc Tang informed.

Discussing the difficulties in implementing educational tasks in the new context, Mr. Bui Nguyen Huy Phong - Permanent Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Truong Khanh Commune (Can Tho City), said: "When management staff at the commune level do not have educational expertise, their advisory work will be limited. Directing the implementation of programs, plans, innovating teaching methods, testing and evaluation, as well as organizing competitions, movements, professional activities in the locality... will encounter many difficulties".

Regarding the solution, Mr. Vo Hong Lam - Deputy Director of the Department of Education and Training of Can Tho City, said: "In the immediate future, with the function of advising and assisting the City People's Committee in State management of the field of education and training, so that localities can promptly direct and manage the field of education, the Department focuses on implementing solutions such as: Assigning members of the Board of Directors to directly take charge of and support 103 communes and wards through the focal point of the leaders of the People's Committee at the commune level.

For any issues arising in the process of leadership, operation, management, etc., commune/ward leaders can directly discuss with department leaders to receive support, resolve or direct specialized departments to provide timely and effective guidance according to their functions and tasks.

“The Department of Education and Training hopes to receive feedback from communes and wards in the management and coordination work with the Department of Education and Training. Difficulties and obstacles will be discussed together, and opinions from communes and wards will be continued to be heard in the coming time; at the same time, the Department will provide professional support and guidance to communes and wards; to jointly carry out well the tasks of education and training...”, Ms. Tran Thi Huyen - Acting Director of the Department of Education and Training of Can Tho City hopes.

Source: https://giaoducthoidai.vn/can-bo-giao-duc-cap-xa-vua-lam-vua-hoc-post743283.html