Granting autonomy in recruitment to the education sector is necessary.

Delegate Tran Van Thuc (Thanh Hoa delegation) expressed his hope that the Law on Teachers, once enacted, will increasingly enhance the effectiveness of managing and utilizing the teaching staff in educational institutions, in line with the practical development of the education sector.

Representative To Van Tam ( Kon Tum delegation) expressed the view that only the education sector should be in charge of recruitment. (Source: National Assembly)

On the morning of May 6th, under the chairmanship of Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Nguyen Thi Thanh, the National Assembly held a plenary discussion on the draft Law on Teachers, with many opinions focusing on teacher recruitment policies. A notable point is that the draft Law proposes granting the education sector greater autonomy in recruiting and employing teachers.

Granting recruitment authority to the education sector to address shortcomings.

Participating in the discussion on the draft Law on Teachers, the majority of delegates agreed with the provision granting the authority to recruit teachers to the education sector. Delegates argued that the education sector's proactive approach to recruiting and employing teachers would meet the requirements for quantity, structure, and quality; contributing to overcoming the situation of localized surpluses and shortages, and imbalances in the teacher workforce.

Currently, the draft law assigns recruitment authority to educational management agencies and the heads of educational institutions. Analyzing this regulation, Representative To Van Tam (Kon Tum delegation) argued that only educational management agencies should be in charge of recruitment, because these agencies have in-depth expertise in education and a thorough understanding of professional and pedagogical requirements to accurately assess the quality of applicants.

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Sharing the same view, delegate Mai Van Hai (from Thanh Hoa province) assessed that the draft Law has stipulated quite transparent regulations on teacher recruitment, clearly defining the authority, responsibility, and decentralization in recruitment of educational management agencies and educational institutions. According to him, "recruitment must be regulated to ensure competitiveness; only then can the quality of teacher recruitment be improved."

The delegate further analyzed the reasons why recruitment authority should be given to educational management agencies, and not to preschools, primary and secondary schools, continuing education institutions, special schools, and public schools, because the schools' ability to organize teacher recruitment is difficult, and moreover, it would be difficult to receive, assign, and transfer teachers between schools when there is a surplus or shortage of teachers.

However, to ensure strict recruitment standards, delegate Nguyen Thi Lan Anh (Lao Cai delegation) suggested that there should be a mechanism for supervision, inspection, and auditing to avoid inconsistent practices in different places, which could lead to inadequacies in the quality of the teaching staff.

“I propose that the Government specify the standards and conditions for recruiting teachers, establish a mechanism for inspection, auditing, and supervision of the exercise of autonomous recruitment rights. Clearly define the accountability of the heads of educational institutions, management bodies, and superiors when violations occur. There should be clear and strict sanctions for violations in recruitment, especially abuse of power and recruitment that lacks transparency,” Representative Lan Anh stated.

Given the current situation where the district level is being abolished, meaning there is no longer a Department of Education, delegate Pham Van Hoa (Dong Thap delegation) asked, "So what organization will be the local education management agency?"

"Should the education management agency be responsible for recruiting teachers, or should the People's Committee at the commune level recruit teachers? Because in the near future, we will delegate the authority to recruit civil servants and public employees to the People's Committee at the commune level, but what about teachers? This design doesn't consider the possibility of merging communes into provinces," the representative pointed out, while also suggesting that the drafting agency carefully consider this issue to design a policy that is consistent with reality.

Meanwhile, delegate Tran Van Thuc (from Thanh Hoa province) expressed strong agreement with the provisions in the draft Law. He hoped that the Law on Teachers, once enacted, would increasingly enhance the effectiveness of managing and utilizing the teaching staff in educational institutions, in line with the practical development of the education sector.

Delegates proposed granting the education sector greater autonomy in the recruitment and employment of teachers to address shortcomings in the utilization and management of the teaching staff in recent years, such as the localized surplus and shortage of teachers between educational institutions and between commune-level administrative units; and at the same time, improve the efficiency of the teaching staff and enhance the quality of education.

Representative Nguyen Thi Lan Anh (Lao Cai delegation) delivers a speech. (Source: National Assembly)

We propose removing the requirement for "practical teaching experience."

Regarding recruitment methods, the draft Law stipulates recruitment through competitive examinations or selection processes, which must include pedagogical practice. However, Representative Doan Thi Le An (Cao Bang delegation) argued that the requirement for pedagogical practice is not entirely reasonable because pedagogical practice is understood as the practice of pedagogical skills and techniques. Meanwhile, students majoring in education have already undergone pedagogical internships and received recognition for their pedagogical practice results. Representative Le An also pointed out that this method would create difficulties for recruiting units if the number of applicants is too large.

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Expressing her views, delegate Le Thi Thanh Lam (Hau Giang delegation) proposed removing the requirement for "practical teaching experience" because the teacher training process at educational institutions already provides sufficient time for students to practice teaching, so it is unnecessary to verify or test practical teaching experience during recruitment. Furthermore, this aligns with the current Law on Public Employees, which stipulates recruitment methods as either competitive examinations or selection processes.

Debating with delegates Le An and Thanh Lam, delegate Do Huy Khanh, Deputy Director of the Department of Education and Training of Dong Nai province, argued that pedagogical practice during recruitment is absolutely essential.

"This is a specialized field, and in such specialized fields, pedagogical practice is extremely important. There are teachers who are very good academically, but when they stand on the podium, they can't teach effectively. Teachers must be proficient in skills, knowledge, and pedagogical expertise. If a teacher doesn't know what to do on the podium and is hesitant, it's very difficult," delegate Huy Khánh stated.

The draft law submitted to the National Assembly this time has been adjusted to regulate the recruitment of teachers according to educational level and training qualifications. For schools of the People's Armed Forces, the recruitment of teachers is regulated by the Minister of Public Security and the Minister of National Defense. For other educational institutions, the recruitment of teachers is decided by the competent authority managing the educational institution. At the same time, the Government is tasked with specifying the details related to the recruitment of teachers in public educational institutions and foreign teachers.

During the discussion session, Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son addressed and clarified issues of concern to National Assembly deputies.

Concluding the discussion on this matter, Vice Chairwoman of the National Assembly Nguyen Thi Thanh stated that teachers and the draft Law on Teachers continue to receive attention from National Assembly deputies. During the discussion on the draft Law, 25 out of 27 deputies expressed their opinions, 3 deputies engaged in debate, and 2 deputies will submit their opinions in writing to the presiding agency for consideration and refinement of the draft Law.

The Vice Chairman of the National Assembly requested that the lead agency responsible for the review closely coordinate with the drafting agency and relevant agencies to urgently study, incorporate, and thoroughly explain the opinions of National Assembly deputies, and report to the Standing Committee of the National Assembly for submission to the National Assembly for consideration and approval of the draft Law on the afternoon of June 11th, as per the session's agenda.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/giao-quyen-tu-chu-tuyen-dung-cho-nganh-giao-duc-la-can-thiet-313436.html