Should there be a competition for outstanding teachers at the commune level?

GD&TĐ - The issue of transferring the authority to organize the excellent teacher competition from the district level to the commune level is attracting attention from the public and education administrators.

Streamline to reduce pressure.

From July 1st, 2025, the entire country will officially adopt a two-tiered local government model, abolishing the district level. Accordingly, relevant legal documents will also be amended, including Circular 22/2019 of the Ministry of Education and Training, which promulgates regulations on competitions for excellent teachers in preschool education institutions; and excellent teachers and excellent homeroom teachers in general education institutions.

According to Article 9 of Circular 12/2025 issued by the Ministry of Education and Training on June 12, 2025, the authority to organize competitions for excellent teachers and excellent homeroom teachers, as stipulated in point b, clause 1, Article 3 of Circular 22/2019, will be exercised by the People's Committee at the commune level. The phrases "Head of the Department of Education and Training" are replaced with "Chairman of the People's Committee of the commune", "Department of Education and Training" with "People's Committee of the commune", and "district level" with "commune level" in Circular 22/2019.

Discussing this, teacher Nguyen Thi Van Hong - Principal of Chuong Duong Secondary School (Hong Ha, Hanoi ) - suggested that, having implemented the policy of streamlining the administrative apparatus in accordance with the Central Government's directive, the Ministry of Education and Training should consider cutting down on some unnecessary competitions/contests. Specifically, Ms. Hong proposed that competitions for excellent teachers and excellent homeroom teachers should not be organized at the commune/ward level to reduce pressure on teachers.

“Depending on their individual abilities and aspirations, teachers can participate in the competition at the school level. Afterward, the Department of Education and Training needs to issue guidelines for organizing the excellent teacher competition in the form of inter-communal/ward competitions, then select teachers who meet the qualifications and standards to participate in the city-level competition. Not to mention, if commune/ward officials lack the necessary expertise, will the judging at the commune level be objective?” Ms. Hong questioned.

Located in a disadvantaged area of ​​the province, teacher Nguyen Thi Ngan - Principal of Phu Nham Primary School (Dan Chu, Phu Tho ) said that organizing a competition for excellent teachers at the commune level while lacking qualified personnel and competent staff transferred from the district's Department of Education and Training would pose a significant challenge to the localities.

Therefore, Ms. Ngan stated that if a competition for excellent teachers at the commune level is implemented, the Departments of Education and Training in each province need to provide detailed and specific guidance on how to implement it, especially solutions to overcome difficulties for localities and schools regarding facilities and personnel for grading, ensuring objectivity and impartiality to guarantee effectiveness.

From a local perspective, teacher Doan Van Tuan - Principal of Giao Thuy Secondary School (Giao Thuy, Ninh Binh) suggested that, to help improve teachers' professional skills without requiring them to participate in excellent teacher competitions, the school management board could directly observe their lessons.

This involves forming two sets of judges. When grading, one set is randomly selected and observed from the hallway outside the classroom to avoid disrupting the lesson. The judging panel is randomly selected from within the grade level and must include 100% of the students in that class, avoiding selecting only high-achieving students while leaving weaker students out, and preventing superficial teaching.

If we innovate by using online observation, we can randomly select a panel of remote observers with cameras positioned at different angles for the observers to monitor. Teachers taking the exam must randomly draw a topic, prepare 20 minutes in advance, and teach any class within the grade level to prevent students from being coached or given leading questions.

"In reality, the excellent teacher competition is very different from mass teaching in the classroom because the competition materials are developed by all teachers in the school. This is a collective effort, so we need to come up with many options to promote the independence of the teachers participating in the competition," Principal Doan Van Tuan analyzed.

INT illustration.

A beneficial playground

According to teacher Nguyen Thi Dam, Principal of Doi Binh Kindergarten (Hoa Xa, Hanoi), to create opportunities for teachers to hone their skills, it is still advisable to organize competitions for excellent teachers and excellent homeroom teachers at the commune level. Because there are so many schools, it's impossible for every school to send representatives to the city-level competition. There must be a "screening" process at the commune level to select the most outstanding teachers to participate in the higher-level competition.

"Previously, when organizing competitions for excellent teachers and excellent homeroom teachers at the district level, the judging panel consisted of highly qualified and objectively transparent administrators. The teachers selected to compete at the city level based on the district-level results were all deserving. I suggest that holding the competition at the commune level first would be more reasonable," Ms. Nguyen Thi Dam proposed.

Teacher Hoang Thi Minh Nguyet - Principal of Tran Bich San Secondary School (Nam Dinh, Ninh Binh) shared that it is still advisable to hold a competition for excellent teachers at the ward level first, and then select a provincial-level competition. For example: Nam Dinh ward has 16 secondary schools, which would be divided into 4 clusters, with 4 schools in each cluster, and teachers from 4 schools would be selected to represent the ward-level competition. The 4 clusters would then select representatives to compete at the provincial level.

According to Ms. Nguyet, the competition will help identify capable and dedicated teachers in the locality so that appropriate training and development plans can be developed. Teachers will have the opportunity to improve their expertise and innovate teaching methods, thereby contributing to improving the quality of education right at their unit; at the same time, it creates a forum for teachers in the commune and school cluster to exchange and learn from each other's experiences.

From the perspective of managing a multi-level educational institution, Mr. Nguyen Van Hoang - Principal of Kim Boi Primary and Secondary School (Kim Boi, Phu Tho) - believes that Circular 12/2025 of the Ministry of Education and Training on the excellent teacher competition, which does not include a written exam to assess teachers' knowledge, is unreasonable. According to him, a written exam should still be included to accurately evaluate the professional knowledge of the participating teachers.

“After the merger, Kim Boi commune now has 7 primary and secondary schools. If we organize a competition for excellent teachers at the commune level, only these 7 schools will participate; the format will remain the same as at the district level, but the judging panel will mainly consist of school principals and core teachers with strong professional skills. If there is a shortage of judges within the commune, we can invite judges from other communes for greater objectivity, fairness, and effectiveness,” said Mr. Nguyen Van Hoang.

Source: https://giaoducthoidai.vn/nen-hay-khong-thi-giao-vien-day-gioi-cap-xa-post738485.html