Temporary solutions to the teacher shortage

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

Operating under a two-tiered local government system, the recruitment, deployment, and transfer of teachers require a review and implementation process in accordance with regulations. In this context, many localities are implementing temporary solutions to ensure sufficient teachers for the 2025-2026 school year.

Assignment, secondment, inter-school teaching

The Nghe An Department of Education and Training has decided to deploy 82 English teachers from 52 primary schools to participate in inter-school English teaching via online platforms. These teachers mainly come from schools in more accessible areas such as urban centers, central communes, and plains like Do Luong, Dien Chau, Minh Hop communes, and Truong Vinh, Vinh Hung, Vinh Phu, and Thanh Vinh wards. This is the first time the Department of Education and Training has deployed English teachers to support primary schools across the province due to teacher shortages.

Previously, the Nghe An Department of Education and Training had deployed and seconded nearly 900 teachers from preschool, primary, and secondary levels to address the teacher shortage for the 2025-2026 school year. However, upon review, 23 primary schools still lack English teachers, mainly concentrated in mountainous areas and ethnic minority regions with particularly difficult socio -economic conditions, where there has been no recruitment of English teachers for many years.

To ensure the quality of online teaching, each English teacher teaching across schools will be responsible for one class remotely, with 4 lessons per week. The principals of the two schools will agree on the learning schedule to suit the curriculum, school timetables, and teachers' schedules. During the assignment process, schools will limit assigning English teachers to other responsibilities to prioritize their teaching duties.

Mr. Pham Xuan Hong, Principal of Pha Danh Ethnic Boarding Primary School (Muong Xen, Nghe An), shared that in this remote area, the school has lacked English teachers for many years. Therefore, the addition of online teachers has helped the school ensure the completion of regular English lessons. The school has also prepared the necessary infrastructure and internet access to organize online teaching, and has assigned teachers to manage and supervise the classes.

Similarly, Tuyen Quang province has also arranged for teachers to teach online across schools for some subjects in schools in mountainous areas. At Then Phang Secondary School (Xin Man commune, Tuyen Quang), Principal Nguyen Thi Quynh Du said that they are currently short of two teachers for English and Physics.

The school reported the issue to the Department of Education and Training, which then arranged for the school to borrow equipment from an online learning room so that students could participate in classes for subjects lacking teachers. However, in the long term, the school hopes to have enough teachers to directly teach all subjects in order to improve the quality of teaching. Attracting teachers to teach in mountainous areas is very difficult, and better incentives are needed for teachers. For specialized subjects, the allowance could be increased compared to regular subjects.

The Mậu Duệ B Ethnic Boarding Primary School (Mậu Duệ commune) has been assigned by the Tuyên Quang Department of Education and Training to teach English both in person and online. Principal Nguyễn Ngô Tô Lịch believes that teachers from other subjects struggle to ensure quality when teaching specialized subjects like English. In mountainous areas, better incentives are needed to retain teachers, such as early salary increases or improved benefits for high-achieving students or excellent teaching performance.

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

A teacher contracting mechanism is needed.

Mr. Ha Duy Hoa, Principal of Khang Nhat Secondary and High School (Tan Thanh commune, Tuyen Quang province), said: "In the 2025-2026 school year, the school will be short one teacher for the subject of Economic and Legal Education, a specialized subject. Previously, the school had been short of 4-5 teachers in various subjects."

“We submitted a request to the Tuyen Quang Department of Education and Training to second teachers. However, for some subjects, the department could not second teachers, so they facilitated the school by providing a one-on-one teacher contract. We widely publicized this and sought cooperation and support from other schools, which helped fill this gap,” Mr. Hoa said.

Quang Ninh province is currently facing a shortage of approximately 4,000 personnel in the education sector, including nearly 2,200 public school teachers and 500 in private schools. In addition, many teachers serving their mandatory military service are "stranded" in some mountainous areas and have submitted petitions to the Provincial People's Committee, prompting the department to address the issue.

To partially address the shortage of teaching staff, Mr. Trinh Dinh Hai, Deputy Director of the Quang Ninh Department of Education and Training, said that the provincial education sector will continue to strengthen the recruitment of contract teachers; arrange teachers to teach across schools and communes, increase teaching hours, etc. Teachers will be encouraged and motivated to voluntarily transfer to schools in other commune-level administrative units that are facing difficulties in teacher staffing.

Previously, in preparation for the 2025-2026 school year, the Quang Ninh Department of Education and Training and the communes and wards in Quang Ninh recruited many contract teachers. Specifically, the Quang Ninh Department of Education and Training recruited 71 contract teachers for high schools. At the commune level, Bai Chay ward recruited 21 contract teachers for kindergartens, primary schools, and junior high schools; Mong Duong ward announced the recruitment of 32 contract teachers, including 25 teachers and 7 staff members…

In Can Tho, the city's Education Department continues to direct schools to employ teachers on contract while awaiting permanent staff recruitment. However, the locality is facing difficulties in the mechanism and funding for paying salaries to contract teachers. Although schools use their operating funds to cover these costs, their operating budgets are very limited. While schools can manage a shortage of 1-2 teachers, they cannot afford the large number of teachers needed, up to 20.

"If the issue of clearly defining staffing quotas and contract mechanisms is not resolved, 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 Ethnic Boarding Primary School (Muong Xen, Nghe An) prepare internet access for students to participate in an online English lesson. Photo: Ho Lai

Review and provide on-the-job training for teachers.

According to the Department of Education and Training of Can Tho City, after the merger with the former Hau Giang and Soc Trang provinces, the city's education sector has more than 38,000 staff positions. A review revealed that the city still lacks more than 2,500 teachers compared to the prescribed quota.

Ms. Tran Thi Huyen further stated that, from the beginning of the 2025-2026 school year, the Department has directed schools and educational institutions to review their facilities, the number of students and classes, as well as the teaching staff, in order to develop a plan and implement the organization of two-session-per-day teaching effectively and comprehensively.

According to the plan, in the 2025-2026 school year, 100% of primary schools in the city will implement a two-session-per-day teaching schedule; 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 teaching staff, mainly at the preschool, primary, and secondary levels. Although there are currently more than 24,200 administrators and teachers working in the province, this number is still insufficient to meet the needs, especially in remote areas.

Besides developing a plan to increase staffing levels, the Ca Mau Education Department is focusing on improving the quality of its existing workforce. This includes implementing training programs to upgrade qualifications and provide professional development for thousands of teachers and administrators; with particular emphasis on teachers who teach integrated subjects and apply information technology…

According to Mr. Nguyen Van Nguyen, Director of the Department of Education and Training of Ca Mau province, to improve the quality of teachers and management staff, the department is focusing on implementing four groups of solutions: Training to upgrade the qualifications of teachers at all levels; Strengthening regular professional development; Training linked to practical needs; and advising on the development of a plan for the development of teachers and management staff for the period 2026-2030, with a vision to 2045.

Following the secondment and deployment of nearly 1,000 teachers to teach across schools, the Nghe An Department of Education and Training is developing a plan to recruit more than 1,000 additional teachers to supplement the teaching staff in schools. Mr. Thai Van Thanh, Director of the Nghe An Department of Education and Training, stated that the recruitment of teachers in the coming period will be based on job positions, prioritizing disadvantaged areas and limiting recruitment to more favorable areas.

Before recruitment, the Nghe An Department of Education will review and prioritize the recruitment of teachers, especially teachers of new subjects according to the 2018 General Education Program, before considering staff, administration, and medical personnel. In addition, they will consider cases of long-term contract employees, and then take into account circumstances and other specific factors.

According to Mr. Luu Tien Hung, Principal of the Teacher Training School, Vinh University, the Politburo's issuance of Resolution 71-NQ/TW demonstrates investment, attention, and the creation of many breakthrough opportunities in education and training. Along with this, educational institutions must review and redefine their vision, mission, and development strategy, and build appropriate action programs that align with Resolution 71. These programs should focus on core elements such as faculty, infrastructure, and training programs.

Currently, teacher training programs need to closely follow the 2018 General Education Program to provide a high-quality workforce of teachers in the new era. Therefore, in addition to traditional majors, the school is opening new teacher training programs to teach new subjects; with the competence, qualifications, and skills to meet the requirements of modern education, 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