Assigning the commune/ward to recruit teachers will have many risks.

Some opinions say that communes and wards should recruit teachers to increase initiative. However, according to experts, this poses many risks when communes and wards do not have enough information and expertise to accurately determine recruitment needs.

How has teacher recruitment been done so far?

When giving comments on the draft Resolution on some special and outstanding mechanisms and policies to make breakthroughs in education and training development, recently some National Assembly delegates proposed that schools should be assigned to recruit teachers and only report to the commune and ward levels. So in reality, how is the current teacher recruitment?

In Ho Chi Minh City, from kindergarten to junior high school, teacher recruitment was previously carried out by the People's Committees of districts and the Department of Education and Training. The Department of Education and Training was only responsible for recruiting high schools under its jurisdiction.

However, since 2022-2023, the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City has piloted decentralization of recruitment for specialized schools, high schools and affiliated kindergartens. To date, 29 schools have been given autonomy to recruit teachers, based on the development strategy and actual conditions of each unit.

Candidates gather to see their registration numbers in the 2025 teacher recruitment exam in Ho Chi Minh City.

According to the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City, this is an implementation step to meet the requirements of fundamental and comprehensive education reform, creating positive changes and ensuring proactiveness, objectivity and fairness. Decentralized schools must develop recruitment plans and follow the recruitment process under the supervision of the Department to ensure the effectiveness of human resource quality.

Since July 1, when the two-level local government model was applied nationwide and there was no longer a district-level Department of Education and Training, the management of kindergartens, primary and secondary schools has been transferred to the People's Committees of wards, communes and special zones.

At the same time, when Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Duong and Ba Ria - Vung Tau merged, in 2025, the city's Department of Education and Training for the first time recruited teachers for all levels: preschool, primary, secondary, high school and continuing education.
The recruitment process consists of 2 rounds.

Round 1 is to check the eligibility based on the application form according to the job position requirements. Those who meet the requirements will move on to round 2.

In round 2, the recruitment board tests professional knowledge and skills. Candidates draw practice questions, present knowledge, demonstrate skills and answer questions from the examination board within 15 minutes.

The selection is carried out according to the principle of taking scores from high to low corresponding to the quota of each position in each unit, based on the registered wishes. When the recruitment position has the candidate with the highest score, the Department of Education and Training continues to work with candidates with lower scores to consider positions that still have quota or are more suitable to the personal conditions of the candidates. This is to ensure that teachers with the best professional capacity and pedagogical skills suitable for the position to be recruited are selected.

Communes and wards should only recruit preschool teachers.

In response to the opinion that schools should be assigned to recruit teachers and only report to the commune level, in an interview with VietNamNet reporter, Associate Professor Nguyen Kim Hong, former Principal of Ho Chi Minh City University of Education, said that if the task of recruiting teachers is assigned to wards and communes, there will be a clear risk that the wards and communes themselves will not understand the teacher recruitment needs of the general schools.

Therefore, if decentralization is applied, the right to recruit preschool teachers should only be given to wards and communes. The recruitment of teachers from primary school level and above should be undertaken by the Department of Education and Training, which can recruit 1-2 times a year based on the proposals of general schools in the province/city.

“In reality, teachers quitting teaching is not the same as other professions. Although there are no statistics on teachers quitting their jobs, in our opinion, it is very rare for teachers to quit their jobs, leading to a shortage of teachers in schools. Especially for subjects with a large number of hours in a block such as Math, Literature, and Foreign Languages. The limitation, if any, lies in not being able to recruit promptly when a teacher quits. But as mentioned, contracts with teachers are usually signed annually. Therefore, if there are cases of quitting, they are only special cases. At that time, it is still possible to recruit replacement teachers from candidates who applied before, were qualified but did not pass due to limited quotas,” said Associate Professor Nguyen Kim Hong.

In 2025, the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City will, for the first time, recruit teachers for all levels: preschool, primary, secondary, high school and continuing education.

According to Associate Professor Nguyen Kim Hong, if the right to recruit teachers is given to wards and communes, the only possible advantage is that the recruitment speed will be faster. However, if the recruitment is centralized according to the Department of Education and Training, the quality of the recruited teachers will be more uniform and meet the requirements not only of a ward or commune but also of the entire province/city.

“As mentioned, if the task of recruiting teachers is assigned to the province, meaning the Department of Education and Training is given authority, then every year, general schools, through the People's Committees of communes, will register the number of recruits. Based on the annual recruitment number of wards and communes, the Department of Education and Training will make a plan to recruit teachers for the whole province at one or two appropriate times of the year. Centralized recruitment at the provincial level will ensure better quality for general schools. At the same time, through recruitment, it is possible to create uniformity in quality between schools. When the quality of general schools is uniform, choosing secondary and high schools will no longer be as complicated as it is now,” according to Associate Professor Nguyen Kim Hong.

The former Principal of Ho Chi Minh City University of Education emphasized that the recruitment criteria are clearly defined and all candidates understand. With clear criteria and a provincial recruitment council consisting of experienced teachers and highly specialized educational managers, the selection will certainly be more effective than being assigned to the ward and commune levels. Therefore, the commune and ward policy for recruiting teachers most suitable for preschool level, from primary level and above, should be concentrated on recruiting about 1-2 times a year and when necessary, an additional round of sudden recruitment can be organized if the localities have demand.

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/giao-cho-xa-phuong-tuyen-giao-vien-se-co-kha-nhieu-rui-ro-2465638.html