Improving the quality of teaching staff: Strengthening before the new school year

GD&TĐ - Implementing two-level local government, the Education sector has proposed recommendations on the authority to recruit, use, appoint, transfer, and second teachers...

Thereby meeting practical needs as well as teaching requirements of the 2018 General Education Program.

School asks for additional teachers

Preparing for the new school year 2025 - 2026, Hien Son Secondary School (Bach Ha Commune, Nghe An ) sent a document to the Department of Education and Training of Nghe An province reporting a shortage of 13 teachers. Specifically, after the end of the previous school year, the school had 12 seconded teachers who were returned to their old units. Meanwhile, next school year, the school plans to have 16 classes, needing 13 additional teachers to ensure teaching arrangements.

Subjects that are lacking teachers include: Math, Literature, English, Physical Education , Natural Science or Physics, Civic Education, and Information Technology. According to Mr. Nguyen Van Dan - Principal of the school, if teachers are not added in time, it will greatly affect the teaching plan as well as the rights of students.

Similarly, Huu Khuong Primary Boarding School (Huu Khuong Commune) has also submitted a proposal to the Nghe An Department of Education and Training to add 15 staff, including 12 teachers and 3 school staff. Huu Khuong is the only island commune in the Ban Ve hydroelectric reservoir area, and so far there is no convenient road access to the commune center. The school's students are scattered at many remote locations and must travel to the main school by boat.

In previous years, to have enough teachers for this school in a particularly difficult area, the Department of Education and Training of Tuong Duong district (old) had to dispatch and mobilize teachers from neighboring communes to work. However, at present, most of these teachers have completed their duties and returned to their old schools. With a shortage of teachers and difficulty attracting teachers from the local area to work, Huu Khuong Primary Boarding School for Ethnic Minorities is in a difficult situation when many classes are empty of teachers as the new school year approaches.

English class at Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Primary School (Hung Nguyen, Nghe An).

According to the leader of the Nghe An Department of Education and Training, previously, the recruitment, appointment and transfer of preschool, primary and secondary school teachers were under the authority of the district People's Committee. Since July 1, implementing the two-level local government, the Department of Education and Training has compiled and reviewed the entire teaching staff at all levels. Accordingly, currently, only communes and wards in Quy Hop district, Vinh city and the old Thai Hoa town have basically enough teachers to teach in the classroom. The remaining localities are in a state of local shortage or surplus of teachers.

Regarding the quality of the staff, the whole province has more than 42,000 managers and teachers, of which 95.4% have met the training standards or higher. The few teachers who have not met the standards have few years of work experience and are not required to undergo training to improve their qualifications according to regulations.

Nghe An is the only province in the country that directly trains more than 30,000 teachers on teaching according to the 2018 General Education Program in the direction of "hands-on instruction". The training costs are paid by the provincial budget. Thereby, helping teachers confidently organize teaching according to the new program and quickly stabilize and be effective.

Mr. Nguyen Quoc Khanh - Deputy Head of the Personnel Organization Department, Nghe An Department of Education and Training said: The shortage of teachers in the province has been going on for many years. The Department is basing on the directive documents of the Government and the Ministry of Education and Training to exercise its authority in managing the team of teachers, management staff, civil servants and workers. Thereby, ensuring the balance of teachers for schools in the new school year.

Music class at Xa Luong Secondary School (Xa Luong, Nghe An).

Decentralization of recruitment, appointment and transfer of teachers

According to Mr. Phan Trong Trung - Vice Chairman of Con Cuong Commune People's Committee, in the past, to balance teachers between schools, the District People's Committee (old) seconded teachers from places with surplus to places with shortage, arranging inter-school teaching.

Currently, with two-level local governments, these surplus and shortage areas are in different administrative areas. Meanwhile, the authority to transfer teachers from schools in one commune to work at schools in another commune is unclear. Therefore, localities are waiting for specific instructions on decentralization of management to balance teachers among schools.

Regarding the teaching staff, the monitoring report on the planning of the school and class network in the area of the People's Council of Nghe An province at the end of June 2025 showed that the situation of local teacher surplus and shortage occurred in many localities. Meanwhile, the recruitment of teachers who are still lacking according to the payroll assigned by competent authorities is still slow. According to the report of the Department of Home Affairs of Nghe An, for preschool and general education, the whole province currently has 1,592 unused payrolls.

The Ministry of Education and Training has issued a draft Circular guiding the functions, tasks and powers of the Department of Education and Training, the education and training sector of specialized departments under the People's Committees of communes, wards and special zones of provinces and centrally run cities.

Commenting on this draft, the People's Committee of Nghe An province suggested that the draft should clearly assign tasks to management levels for educational institutions. From there, the People's Committee of the province has a basis to issue regulations on assignment and decentralization of education management and regulations on functions and tasks of the Department of Education and Training. At the same time, clarify the scope of "under the management authority" of the People's Committee at the commune level and the Department of Education and Training.

Regarding the assignment of recruitment, use, appointment, transfer, and secondment of civil servants in preschool, primary, and secondary schools in the province, the assignment must address practical issues. Specifically, currently, most localities in the province have a local surplus of teachers in educational institutions (number, subject structure). In particular, schools in central communes or with high preferential treatment have a surplus of teachers, while schools in remote areas lack teachers. The specificity of the education sector is that over 80% of civil servants are female, so the transfer is difficult, especially when each commune has only 1-2 schools at each level.

From the above reality, the People's Committee of Nghe An province also proposed that the recruitment, mobilization, secondment, and inter-school assignment should take into account factors such as regulating and balancing teachers among educational institutions across the province, ensuring effective and quality operations, and limiting waste of human resources throughout the sector.

At the same time, ensure the compatibility with accountability for educational activities, educational quality, teacher and learner management, and implementation of educational development policies. The plan to organize a general recruitment council for the whole province aims to avoid wasting time and State budget as well as the time and effort of candidates.

Nghe An is lacking more than 4,000 new teachers to meet the required teacher/class ratio. Of which, preschools lack 1,579; primary schools lack 1,198; secondary schools lack 942; and high schools lack 463 teachers (8%).

There is a shortage of teachers in gifted subjects (Music, Fine Arts), Information Technology, Foreign Languages, new subjects such as Natural Sciences, History and Geography, Experiential Activities - Career Guidance. The ratio of teachers/class at all levels in Nghe An has not met the regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training. Of which, preschool is 1.9; primary school is 1.35; secondary school is 1.7; high school is 2.1 teachers/class.

Source: https://giaoducthoidai.vn/nang-cao-chat-luong-doi-ngu-nha-giao-kien-tuan-truoc-them-nam-hoc-moi-post743472.html