Teachers moving from private to public: Kindergartens face difficulties

This is especially important at preschool level - where children always need time to get acquainted and adapt to teachers, thereby stabilizing their psychology and being ready to cooperate with teachers in care, nurturing and educational activities.

Preschool teachers transfer from private to public, from private to... private

On October 6, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training announced the results of the first round of teacher recruitment for the 2025-2026 school year. At the preschool level, 1,628 candidates took the exam and 578 were selected, many of whom are teachers working at private preschools. Previously, from October 5, many non-public preschool owners sighed as they would soon have to receive official resignation letters from many teachers - teachers who passed the civil service exam.

Giáo viên chuyển dịch từ tư sang công: Trường mầm non gặp khó - Ảnh 1. — Private school preschool teachers take care of children during mealtimes

Not only shifting from private to public, in recent years, within the same non-public sector, preschool teachers and staff have often "jumped jobs" from one school/class to another to find a job with a suitable income and working environment. This is one of the issues that the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training recognized and reported in the summary of the 2024-2025 school year.

At the preschool level, students are children from 6 months to 5-6 years old, they need a certain amount of time to get acquainted with the teacher. A private preschool owner in Ho Chi Minh City shared: "It's early October, the children have just started the school year for more than a month, just got to know the teacher then she quit to transfer to a public school. The children cried again, the school owner also struggled to find a replacement, then retrained the teachers from the beginning in anxiety, because he didn't know if after such training, the teachers would stick with it for a long time?"

Ms. Nguyen Thi Cam Dan, Principal of Tay Thanh 2 Kindergarten, Binh Tri Dong Ward, Ho Chi Minh City, said that currently, non-public preschool education is facing many difficulties. Owners of private schools and independent private preschools have to shoulder many costs from renting premises, paying teachers' and staff's salaries and many welfare policies for the staff. Meanwhile, schools are having difficulty recruiting young students and recruiting good teachers, but the biggest headache is retaining both students and teachers.

In the last school year, the number of preschool children in Ho Chi Minh City decreased significantly. Even public schools are facing a shortage of students. Leaders and representatives of some schools - including public school administrators - have proactively contacted and encouraged parents to send their children to public schools to ensure enough students, helping children have a smooth path to first grade. This is the common situation that the preschool education sector in Ho Chi Minh City is facing today.

I wish there were preferential treatment for non-public teachers as well.

Ms. Cam Dan said that in recent years, her school has been less affected when the teaching staff moved from private to public or "jumped jobs" from one place to another, but this story is not uncommon in many other facilities. One of the main reasons why many preschool teachers choose to go to public schools is because Ho Chi Minh City currently has many special policies to attract teachers, increase income, and have a more stable life...

"Private preschool teachers in Ho Chi Minh City are very concerned and wonder why teachers in public and non-public schools are both teachers (as stipulated in the 2019 Education Law), are taking care of, nurturing, and educating children, and are working side by side with the city's education system, but they do not have the same benefits, especially the policy of increased income as teachers in public schools. If they are supported with some additional income, the private preschool teachers will certainly be less disadvantaged and will feel more secure in their work place," Ms. Cam Dan shared.

In the problem of retaining good teachers, increasing benefits and improving income is not enough, but also taking into account pride, work culture, opportunities for professional development and personal development.

Mr. LUONG DUNG NHAN, Training Director of ATY Education System

CHALLENGE BUT ALSO OPPORTUNITY

Looking at the story of teachers moving from private to public schools, or within the same private sector, in today's diverse educational landscape, education doctoral student Luong Dung Nhan, Training Director of the ATY Education System, said that this is a challenge but also an opportunity for all parties.

Teachers from private schools to public schools will bring a new breeze, creativity, and initiative in their work to public schools, creating a stronger competitive spirit among public school teachers - a place that is considered to be accustomed to stability. On the contrary, private schools must also strive to innovate. With their inherent dynamism, they will need to research and develop innovative educational products, diversify services, and add differences to attract preschool children and parents.

Giáo viên chuyển dịch từ tư sang công: Trường mầm non gặp khó - Ảnh 2. — Mr. Luong Dung Nhan in a teacher training session

At the same time, each private educational institution needs to have a strategy in training, fostering, and remuneration to retain good teachers. Because in reality, the needs of parents are diverse, each public or private educational institution has a different educational philosophy, development orientation, provides educational services, brings different experiences, but has the same core which is to help students develop the most. To do this, the most important factor is people - the board of directors and teachers.

"In the problem of retaining good teachers, increasing benefits and improving income is not enough, but also taking into account pride, work culture, opportunities for professional development and personal development. When the school board and management convince the teaching staff with the educational trend they are pursuing, with creativity and quick movement in work, good teachers, if they see that it is suitable for the criteria they need, will stick with it," Mr. Nhan said.

Mr. Luong Dung Nhan also said that the transfer of personnel between regions is not uncommon, but in order to avoid pushing difficulties onto the educational institutions, transparency is needed between the parties. Management staff and private school/class owners must be transparent about salaries, benefits, and career paths for teachers. Teachers also need to notify the management team in advance about the possibility of changing jobs. Avoid teachers suddenly announcing their resignation, leading to difficulties in recruiting and training replacement teachers...

The "no salary race" solution of many preschools

Ms. Ha Ngoc Nga, manager of several private preschools in Ho Chi Minh City, said that if they had to compete with high salaries and incomes to retain teachers, many owners of private preschools like her would not be able to. Because in the difficult enrollment situation, owners have to weigh and measure many different expenses to operate. "We choose the solution of paying salaries for the teaching team still relatively according to the general level, but we have to build an optimal and effective working environment so that teachers can fully concentrate on caring for, nurturing and educating children; not be distracted by many paperwork and movement activities that may not be necessary for children, causing overload for teachers," Ms. Nga said.

To do this, the facility increases the application of information technology in data processing. Schools/classes have managers who discuss issues with parents, reducing pressure and stress for the teaching staff. In addition, Ms. Nga always prioritizes 10% of the annual budget for teacher training costs. Teachers are granted scholarships for professional development courses, courses on child psychology, and language teaching methods for children...

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/giao-vien-chuyen-dich-tu-tu-sang-cong-truong-mam-non-gap-kho-185251014220449491.htm