Vocational teacher training conference, self-made vocational training equipment competition: Increase spending, flexible delegation of authority

Some new points in the draft are expected to increase teachers' motivation to participate, contributing to improving the quality of professional activities in the field of vocational education .

The level of compensation and rewards is not yet motivating.

Mr. Dang An Binh - Principal of the College of Technology and Engineering said that the teaching conference is an annual training and development activity of the school - one of the key tasks to improve the quality of the teaching staff. Through the teaching conference, teachers practice the spirit of self-study, self-research, exploration, and learning of teaching methods, how to use teaching aids and equipment; thereby, constantly improving their professional qualifications and professional skills.

In order to encourage teachers to participate, the school has built its own mechanism and policies related to internal competition. For example, teachers who win the first prize at the city or national level will be awarded a coefficient of 1.1 months of basic salary; second prize will be 1.0; third prize will be 0.9 per month, maintained for one year (in addition to the bonus level according to State regulations), using the school's legal revenue. Since this policy was implemented, the teaching competition movement has become more vibrant, and for many years in a row, the school's teachers have won high prizes.

“Participating in teaching conferences and competitions on homemade vocational training equipment requires a lot of effort and investment. The school always creates favorable conditions for teachers, from time, lecture documents, stationery to teaching equipment. Teachers in need will make a proposal plan; the school will consider and provide maximum support. Investing in equipment is not only for teaching conferences, but also for future training. The school also pays attention to inviting experts to attend classes and give comments to help teachers improve their professional skills and teaching methods,” Mr. Dang An Binh shared.

However, implementing this activity at the grassroots level still faces many difficulties. Mr. Pham Kim Thu - Principal of Nghe An Friendship College, mentioned the outdated and fragmented spending norms. Previously, many places still referred to Joint Circular 79/2012/TTLT-BTC-BLDTBXH, so the spending levels were small and fragmented for each item (for example, 500,000 VND for some forms, scoring scales, etc.), no longer suitable for the current scale of teaching/equipment competitions, especially for professions that require expensive materials and practical equipment. This makes it difficult for localities to flexibly arrange funding according to the actual organization.

At the same time, there is no unified organization rhythm and budget allocation among the 3 levels (base, province, national). Many provinces have to issue separate resolutions/expenditure levels to "patch" the gap in the norms, leading to each place having its own way, making it difficult to compare results and summarize the budget. Support for teachers and pre-competition training is still limited. Expenditure for meals, exam preparation training, equipment rental/transportation, purchase of specialized supplies, etc. has not been clearly guided, or lacks a basis for connection, causing confusion when finalizing.

Commenting on the draft Circular, Mr. Pham Kim Thu said that it clearly stipulates the organizational framework according to 3 levels and cycles. The "cyclical setting" helps units proactively plan and estimate medium-term budgets. The principle of budget management is strict but flexible. Accordingly, it requires publicity, transparency, and compliance with regulations; allowing the decision on actual spending levels based on contracts, invoices, and documents for organizational expenses (rental of locations, machinery, materials, transportation, installation, etc.). The "contracting by documents" approach removes obstacles because each profession has different cost characteristics...

Also sharing the new points of the draft, Mr. Ly Xuan Hoa - Deputy Head of the Department of Vocational Education - Continuing Education, Department of Education and Training of Vinh Long said that the draft focuses on adjusting the spending levels and updating the spending contents to be more suitable with reality and current financial regulations.

The level of rewards and remuneration for the team of expert guides, judges, and teachers participating in the competition has increased. Decentralization of the decision on the level of expenditure; regulations for some specific expenditure tasks (such as costs of renting locations, vehicles, supplies, raw materials, etc.), the level of expenditure will be based on actual contracts, invoices, and decided by the head of the organizing committee.

According to Mr. Ly Xuan Hoa, currently, the level of compensation for participants in the vocational teacher training conference and the homemade vocational training equipment competition is too low, no longer suitable with the current spending level; reducing the motivation and enthusiasm of the participating individuals, especially the judges - those with high professional qualifications. In this content, the draft stipulates the maximum level of payment/award of 2 million for individuals, 4 million for groups, which is still low, not worthy of the huge effort and time invested by teachers in preparing lectures, researching and manufacturing equipment.

In addition, homemade vocational training equipment, especially equipment for new technology, is often complicated, requiring huge costs for materials and components (up to tens or even hundreds of millions of VND). The level of financial support for equipment manufacturing (if any) is not commensurate with the actual investment of vocational training institutions and teachers. Teachers often have to spend their own money, or mobilize from other sources other than the State's support level.

Another difficulty is that many activities of a specific nature in vocational education (such as costs of hiring assessment experts, transportation costs, installation of bulky equipment, costs of experiments, practice during exams, etc.) are not clearly regulated, or the cost levels are still general, causing difficulties in budgeting, payment, and finalization of expenses. The application of other circulars (e.g., Conference expenses, business expenses) to teaching and competition activities is not entirely consistent with the specialized nature of these activities.

Proposal to increase spending and support highly applicable equipment

Commenting on the draft, Mr. Ly Xuan Hoa suggested increasing the allowance level by at least 1.5 to 2 times compared to the draft, and periodically adjusting it to comply with the regulations on basic salary and consumer price index. Increasing the value of the award (both cash and in kind/support) to match the meaning of honoring and encouraging the creativity and dedication of the team of vocational education teachers.

At the same time, the superior management agency can use the budget to buy back the copyright, or provide funding to complete and replicate the highly applicable national award-winning devices, and put them into widespread use in vocational training institutions. This avoids the situation where excellent devices are "shelved" after the competition, ensures the effectiveness of State investment, and encourages teachers to make devices that are popular.

Mr. Ly Xuan Hoa also said that there should be regulations on minimum support levels for equipment manufacturing, or mechanisms to increase support levels for equipment in key industries and high technology. Clearly stipulate that vocational training institutions prioritize funding to support teachers in making equipment right from the preparation stage, not just waiting for the results of the competition. Consider special reward/support mechanisms for equipment that wins national and international prizes to encourage technology transfer and put into use in the system.

“It is also necessary to specify the spending level, or the spending mechanism based on reality (with invoices and legal documents) for special expenses as mentioned above (transportation of equipment, costs of consumables during the exam/model lecture...). Decentralize the right to decide on the spending level based on reality for some special contents to the head of the organizing committee (provincial level), on the basis of publicity, transparency and compliance with general provisions of the law,” said Mr. Ly Xuan Hoa.

Giving comments, Mr. Pham Kim Thu proposed standardizing the "cost menu" by job group; providing guidance on a shortened settlement form for lectures/competitions; clarifying the ceiling for some "soft" items (communications, visual materials, posters, etc.) using a percentage framework on the total estimate or an absolute level according to scale, to avoid confusion during audit.

Emphasizing the mechanism to encourage transparent socialization, Mr. Pham Kim Thu said that it is necessary to allow the receipt of sponsorship of in-kind and testing equipment from enterprises to serve teaching/exam conferences, with separate accounting instructions (not "teaming" the State budget expenditure), helping to increase the quality of demonstration equipment without creating settlement risks. The Ministry of Finance will coordinate with the Ministry of Education and Training to summarize after a 3-year cycle (national level) the effectiveness of budget use, the level of participation of vocational training institutions and the quality of self-made equipment, to adjust the standards closer to reality for the next period.

“I think the names of the teaching and competition competitions should be changed to 'Teaching Conference for Vocational Teachers' and 'Competition for Homemade Training Equipment'. I would also like to consider amending the regulations on financial management related to the activities of vocational competitions at all levels to suit the actual situation,” said Mr. Ly Xuan Hoa.

Source: https://giaoducthoidai.vn/hoi-giang-gv-day-nghe-hoi-thi-thiet-bi-day-nghe-tu-lam-tang-muc-chi-trao-quyen-linh-hoat-post754617.html