Paradox of professional title promotion

TP - For many years, teachers from kindergarten to high school have been waiting to be considered for promotion in their professional titles. However, current regulations cause disadvantages in terms of income as well as greatly impact their spirit and motivation to work.

Waiting wearily

Ms. NTM, a teacher at a kindergarten in Ninh Binh, said that after 25 years of working in the industry, she still has not had the opportunity to be promoted to a higher professional title. She is currently at level III. Ms. M said that for many years, she and her colleagues have been very concerned about the unfair salary coefficients between levels. For example, level III has a starting point of 2.10; level II has a starting point of 2.34, a difference of 0.24. But level I has a starting point of 4.00, a difference of 1.66 compared to level II. This difference is inappropriate and disadvantageous for most teachers because most of them are at level III.

Mr. NVT, a primary school teacher in Hanoi, also said that after 21 years of working, he only applied for a promotion once but was given a “failure” because of the quota. This resulted in the teachers’ salaries not being changed because they were not promoted.

Teachers' class time in Hanoi. Photo: Trong Quan

The current problem is that Official Dispatch No. 64 dated January 5, 2024 of the Ministry of Home Affairs on determining the structure of civil servant ranks and the structure of professional titles of public employees stipulates that for public service units that partially self-insure regular expenses and public service units whose regular expenses are guaranteed by the State budget, the number of teachers holding professional titles of grade I and equivalent must not exceed 10%.

The document also stipulates that the number of professional titles of grade II and equivalent must not exceed 50% and the number of professional titles of grade III and equivalent or lower must not exceed 40%. The control of the ratio makes it difficult for teachers of grade III to be considered for promotion to grade II; teachers of grade II have difficulty in being promoted to grade I. This is also the reason why many schools have many teachers who are eligible to be considered for promotion to professional titles, but only a few teachers are considered to ensure the prescribed ratio. Many teachers still have to wait in line despite being eligible; even many retirees have not had the opportunity to be considered for promotion and have not been given a coefficient, so their salaries are not high. This situation is especially common in big cities like Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City or places with a large number of teachers with many years of experience in the profession.

Race against the rules

Reporters' observations show that the constant changes in legal documents related to professional title promotion are causing difficulties for teachers. Specifically, since 2021, the Ministry of Education and Training has issued many new circulars, amending or supplementing regulations on professional title standards for teachers.

At the press conference of the first quarter of 2025 of Can Tho City, the representative of the Department of Education and Training said that from 2018 to 2020, the department has conducted 2 reviews to promote the professional titles of teachers. From the 2020-2021 school year to now, the Department of Education and Training of Can Tho has not organized the promotion of professional titles of teachers. The objective reason is due to the complicated developments of the COVID-19 epidemic. The subjective reason is due to the many changes in legal documents regulating standards, professional titles of teachers and regulations on recruitment, use and management of civil servants. According to the leader of the Department of Education and Training of Can Tho, in early 2021, the Ministry of Education and Training issued 4 Circulars from 01 to 04 regulating the codes of professional title standards and appointment and salary arrangement for civil servants in public preschool and general education institutions.

However, in November 2021, the Ministry issued Circular 34 stipulating the standards and conditions for examination or promotion; content, form and determination of successful candidates in the examination for promotion of professional titles of public preschool and general education teachers. Therefore, the four Circulars (01-04) have just taken effect, more than 1 year later, the Ministry of Education and Training issued a document requesting educational and social institutions to comment on the draft amendments. In April 2023, the Ministry issued Circular 08 amending and supplementing a number of articles of the above 4 Circulars.

On the other hand, the principles of organizing exams and considering promotion of professional titles of teachers are implemented according to Decree 115/2020 of the Government regulating the recruitment, use and management of civil servants. However, on December 7, 2023, the Government issued Decree 85 amending and supplementing a number of articles of Decree 115. In March 2024, the Ministry of Education and Training continued to send a document asking for opinions on changes to the draft Circular 34.

In October 2024, the ministry issued Circular 13 to replace Circular 34. The leader of the Department of Education and Training of Can Tho affirmed that due to the continuous changes in the documents regulating the standards and conditions for considering the promotion of teachers' professional titles, from the 2020-2021 school year up to now, the department has not considered promoting teachers' professional titles.

The change in the legal corridor requires provinces and cities to update and adjust evaluation processes and criteria, including sending official dispatches to superiors, leading to a loss of time in preparation and implementation of promotion consideration.

Statistics from the Ministry of Education and Training show that nearly 9% of teachers from preschool, general education, continuing education, and university preparatory levels currently hold the title of senior teacher (grade I); about 88% of the teaching staff hold the title of grade III.

Source: https://tienphong.vn/nghich-li-xet-thang-hang-chuc-danh-nghe-nghiep-post1795678.tpo