Temporary solutions to the teacher shortage

GD&TĐ - Teacher shortage is a common situation in many provinces and cities across the country.

In the operation of a two-level local government, the recruitment, mobilization, and transfer of teachers requires a review and implementation process according to regulations. In that context, many localities have come up with temporary solutions to ensure enough teachers for the 2025-2026 school year.

Mobilization, secondment, inter-school teaching

Nghe An Department of Education and Training has just decided to mobilize 82 English teachers from 52 primary schools to participate in inter-school English teaching in the form of online teaching. These teachers mainly come from schools in favorable areas such as urban areas, central communes, and plains such as Do Luong, Dien Chau, Minh Hop communes, Truong Vinh ward, Vinh Hung, Vinh Phu, Thanh Vinh. This is the first time the Department of Education and Training has mobilized English teachers to support primary schools in the whole province to support schools due to lack of teachers.

Previously, the Nghe An Department of Education and Training mobilized and seconded nearly 900 teachers at preschool, primary and secondary levels to address the teacher shortage in the 2025-2026 school year. However, through review, there are still 23 primary schools without English teachers, mainly concentrated in mountainous areas, ethnic minority areas, with particularly difficult socio -economic conditions, and for many years there has been no source of English teachers.

To ensure the quality of online teaching, each inter-school English teacher will be in charge of a class with 4 periods/week. The principals of the two schools will agree on the study time to suit the teaching program, school and teacher timetables. In the process of assigning tasks, the schools will limit the arrangement of English teachers to take on other jobs to prioritize focusing on teaching expertise.

Mr. Pham Xuan Hong - Principal of Pha Danh Primary School for Ethnic Minorities (Muong Xen, Nghe An) shared that in remote areas, the school has not had an English teacher for many years. Therefore, when the number of online teachers is increased, it helps the school ensure regular English lessons. The school also prepares to ensure the conditions of facilities, internet connection, etc. to organize online teaching, and arranges teachers to serve and manage the classroom.

Similarly, Tuyen Quang province also arranged teachers to teach online inter-school courses for some subjects in highland schools. At Then Phang Secondary School (Xin Man commune, Tuyen Quang), Principal Nguyen Thi Quynh Du said that there is a shortage of 2 teachers for English and Physics.

The school reported to the Department of Education and Training, and the Department then arranged for the school to borrow equipment from an online room for students to participate in the subjects that lack teachers. However, in the long term, the school hopes to have enough teachers directly for each subject to improve the quality of teaching. Attracting teachers to teach in the highlands is very difficult, and a better treatment policy is needed for teachers. For special subjects, allowances can be increased compared to normal subjects.

Mau Due B Primary School (Mau Due Commune) has been assigned by the Department of Education and Training of Tuyen Quang to teach both in-person and online English. Mr. Nguyen Ngo To Lich - Principal said that it is difficult for teachers who teach other subjects to support special subjects such as English to ensure quality. In mountainous areas, to attract teachers, there needs to be better treatment policies for teachers, such as when there are good students or good teaching quality, increasing salaries ahead of schedule or raising incentives in a timely manner to retain them.

Teachers and students of Ngo Quyen Primary School, Ninh Kieu Ward, Can Tho City. Photo: Q. Ngu

Need for teacher contract mechanism

Mr. Ha Duy Hoa - Principal of Khang Nhat Secondary and High School (Tan Thanh Commune, Tuyen Quang), said: In the 2025 - 2026 school year, the school lacks 1 teacher for Economic and Legal Education, a special subject. Previously, the school lacked 4 - 5 teachers of various subjects.

“We have submitted a request to the Tuyen Quang Department of Education and Training to second teachers. However, there are subjects that the department cannot second, so we created conditions for the school by providing a 1/1 teacher contract solution. We widely announced and asked other schools to cooperate and support, so we were able to fill this gap,” said Mr. Hoa.

Quang Ninh is lacking about 4,000 staff in the education sector, including nearly 2,200 public school teachers and 500 people in private schools. In addition, many teachers on military service are "stuck" in some mountainous areas and have sent petitions to the provincial People's Committee, after which the sector has stepped in to respond.

To partly overcome the shortage of staff, Mr. Trinh Dinh Hai - Deputy Director of the Department of Education and Training of Quang Ninh province said that the provincial education sector continues to increase the recruitment of contract teachers; arrange teachers to teach inter-school, inter-commune, increase hours... Encourage and motivate teachers, in the spirit of volunteering, to transfer to schools in other commune-level administrative units that are having difficulties in terms of teaching staff.

Previously, to prepare for the new school year 2025 - 2026, the Department of Education and Training of Quang Ninh and communes and wards in Quang Ninh recruited many teachers under labor contracts. Of which, the Department of Education and Training of Quang Ninh recruited 71 high school level labor contracts. At the commune level, Bai Chay ward recruited 21 labor contracts for kindergartens, primary schools, and junior high schools; Mong Duong ward announced the recruitment of 32 labor contracts including 25 teachers and 7 staff...

In Can Tho, the city's Department of Education continues to direct units to implement teacher contracts while waiting for recruitment. However, this locality is facing difficulties in the mechanism and budget for paying salaries to contract teachers. Although using the school's operating resources to pay, the actual operating budget of schools is very limited. If the school is only short of 1-2 teachers, it can be proactive, but in case of a large shortage of up to 20 teachers, the school will not be able to pay.

"If we do not resolve the issue of staffing and contract mechanisms clearly, it will become increasingly difficult for schools," said Ms. Tran Thi Huyen - Acting Director of the Department of Education and Training of Can Tho City.

Teachers at Pha Danh Primary School for Ethnic Minorities (Muong Xen, Nghe An) prepare the internet connection for students to study English online. Photo: Ho Lai

Review and train on-site teachers

According to the Department of Education and Training of Can Tho City, after merging with Hau Giang and Soc Trang provinces (old), the city's education sector has more than 38,000 staff. After reviewing, the city is still short of more than 2,500 teachers compared to the prescribed quota.

Ms. Tran Thi Huyen added that from the beginning of the 2025-2026 school year, the department has directed schools and educational institutions to review facilities, number of students and classes as well as teaching staff to develop plans and synchronously and effectively implement the organization of teaching 2 sessions/day.

According to the roadmap, in the 2025-2026 school year, 100% of primary schools in the city will teach two sessions per day; for secondary and high schools, this will depend on the facilities and teaching staff of each school.

Similarly, Ca Mau province is facing a shortage of nearly 2,000 teachers, mainly at the preschool, primary and secondary levels. Although there are currently more than 24,200 administrators and teachers working, this number is still not enough to meet the demand, especially in remote areas.

In addition to developing a plan to supplement the staff, the Ca Mau Education sector focuses on improving the quality of the existing staff. Implementing training to upgrade standards and foster professional skills for thousands of teachers and managers; paying special attention to teachers teaching integrated subjects and applying information technology...

According to Mr. Nguyen Van Nguyen - Director of the Department of Education and Training of Ca Mau, to improve the quality of teachers and managers, the sector focuses on implementing 4 groups of solutions such as: Training to improve the standard qualifications for teachers at all levels; Strengthening regular training; Training linked to practical needs and advising on building a project to develop teachers and managers for the period 2026 - 2030, with a vision to 2045.

Immediately after the secondment and transfer of nearly 1,000 teachers to teach in inter-schools, the Nghe An Department of Education and Training is developing a plan to recruit more than 1,000 staff to supplement the schools. Mr. Thai Van Thanh - Director of the Nghe An Department of Education and Training said that the recruitment of teachers for the coming time will be based on job positions, with priority given to disadvantaged areas and limited to favorable areas.

Before recruiting, Nghe An Education Department will review and prioritize recruiting teachers, especially new subject teachers according to the 2018 General Education Program, then the staff, administration, and medical staff. In addition, cases with long-term contracts will be considered, then the circumstances and other specific factors will be taken into account.

According to Mr. Luu Tien Hung - Principal of Vinh University's Pedagogical College, the Politburo has issued Resolution 71-NQ/TW, demonstrating investment, attention, and creating many breakthrough opportunities in education and training. Along with that, educational and training institutions must review and redefine their vision, mission, and development strategy and build appropriate action programs, close to Resolution 71. In which, focusing on core factors such as staff, facilities, and training programs.

Currently, the teacher training program needs to closely follow the 2018 General Education Program to provide high-quality teachers in the new period. Therefore, in addition to the traditional majors, the school opens additional majors to train teachers to teach new subjects; with qualifications and skills to meet modern educational requirements such as making English the second language in schools...

Source: https://giaoducthoidai.vn/giai-phap-tinh-the-giai-quyet-tinh-trang-thieu-giao-vien-post753381.html