Now, hope has a foothold: the Law on Teachers was passed by the National Assembly , Official Dispatch 61/CD-TTg was issued on May 10, 2025, and the draft Decree on preferential allowances for occupations is waiting to be realized.
The silent keepers of the fire
Ms. Nguyen Thi Hop gave birth to her first child on a late winter day in Thanh Hoa . Instead of resting and enjoying the joy of motherhood, she had to wait for each small salary, not knowing when it would be released to her account. As a preschool teacher with a contract for more than 10 years, she had never been on the payroll. The contract lasted nine months - enough for her to take care of children, teach, and be on duty at the school - but it did not qualify her for insurance, allowances, or competitive exams. At the end of each school year, she worried: would she be called back next year?
In the same mood is Ms. Pham Thi Anh Hong, an equipment staff at Trung Da Secondary School (Soc Son, Hanoi ). While students and teachers are on summer vacation, she still goes to school every day to check, clean, and repair equipment for the new school year. Working all year round, regularly exposed to chemicals, she does not receive a toxic allowance, has multiple jobs, is not considered for competition or sent to training.
Ms. Hop and Ms. Hong’s stories are not unique. Many people do not stand on the podium but keep the school running every day. They may not be called “teachers” under the old law, but they are an indispensable part of creating the school environment.
The shortage of teachers, especially in preschools, is becoming more serious. From August 2023 to April 2024, more than 1,600 preschool teachers quit their jobs, accounting for 22% of the total number of teachers leaving the profession. In the 2024-2025 school year, the country will lack nearly 20,000 more preschool and general education teachers than the previous year. Without timely solutions, by 2030, the shortage could reach more than 55,000 teachers, directly affecting the goal of universalizing preschool education and improving the quality of child care.
The shortage is not limited to teachers. The country currently has about 246,800 school staff working in public educational institutions, in charge of equipment, libraries, school health, information technology, accounting, clerical, security, catering, janitors, etc. But of these, only about 95,600 have permanent positions; the remaining 151,200 are on contract.
Most of this force is ranked with a low starting salary coefficient: 1.86 for intermediate level, 2.1 for college level - equivalent to 4.3 to 6.9 million VND/month (calculated according to the basic salary of 2.34 million VND from July 2024). This is a significantly lower income than teachers or administrative staff, while the workload is often not light and can last all year round, without a summer vacation like teachers.
Gaps in mechanisms and policies
One of the common shortcomings is the situation of signing short-term contracts by quarter or school year, which prevents teachers from accumulating enough insurance payment time to be officially recruited. Former Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Doan Hung District, Phu Tho Province, Nguyen Anh Hung, admitted: "Signing contracts by quarter makes it impossible for schools to fully pay insurance for contract teachers." This is not only a personal disadvantage but also shows loopholes in public personnel management policies.
Ms. Bui Thi An, former National Assembly delegate, once raised the issue: “5-10 year contracts still cannot be put on the payroll - is it because the criteria are unclear or because the way of doing things is not unified? The Ministry of Education and Training and relevant agencies need to review and resolve any problems.”
Not only is there a lack of a synchronous mechanism, the confusion at the local level also reflects the gap in staff allocation. Director of the Department of Home Affairs of Thanh Hoa province Tran Quoc Huy said: “Limited budgets and low staffing targets make it very difficult for localities to manage. Flexibility from the Central Government is needed to be able to sign long-term contracts or supplement staffing in a timely manner.”
In Phu Tho, Mr. Le Anh Van, former Head of the Department of Internal Affairs of Lam Thao district also stated: "Circular No. 19/2023/TT-BGDDT dated October 30, 2023 of the Ministry of Education and Training stipulates a very high teacher/class ratio, but the central allocation of staff cannot meet the demand, so schools are forced to retain contract teachers to maintain operations."
Looking at the emulation and reward system, many school staff do not have teaching hours, do not participate in professional competitions, are in charge of excellent students, etc., so they are eliminated from the list of rewards, even though they still undertake and complete essential tasks well. While teachers have a roadmap for upgrading according to professional title regulations, most school staff are still stuck at the starting coefficient after a dozen years of work. They do not have their own code, do not receive specialized training, and are not included in the career development plan. Many people, despite their high capacity and sense of responsibility, are still not qualified to take the civil servant exam, simply because they do not have a contract in accordance with regulations or have not paid insurance for enough time.
Faced with this situation, Deputy Minister of Education and Training Hoang Minh Son said: “The Ministry is studying and proposing a vocational allowance regime suitable for each job position. Considering promotion of professional titles is also one of the solutions to retain and stabilize human resources.”
When policy starts calling
On May 10, 2025, the Prime Minister issued Official Dispatch 61/CD-TTg, requesting localities to urgently supplement the number of teachers and school staff, especially in disadvantaged areas, preschools and primary schools. At the same time, directing relevant ministries and branches to thoroughly handle long-standing shortcomings: short-term contracts, lack of allowances and unsecured benefits for school workers.
In June 2025, the National Assembly passed the Law on Teachers (Law). According to Article 2, the concept of “teacher” was expanded for the first time, including contract teachers, non-public teachers, and teaching support staff such as equipment, libraries, and school health workers. Clause 3, Article 14 stipulates that those who have taught in appropriate positions will be given priority when recruiting civil servants...
Along with that, the Law lays the foundation for a clear career path: from the system of teacher titles (Article 12), professional standards (Article 13), to the policy of regular training and development (Article 31). Article 23 establishes the principle of ranking teachers' salaries at the highest level in the administrative-career system, and at the same time creates the basis for establishing preferential allowances for the profession according to the specific position and working conditions.
Not only stopping at policy commitments, Article 6 of the Law has assigned the responsibility to the Government and the Ministry of Education and Training to plan the development of the education sector, build ethical and professional standards and a synchronous and sustainable occupational security system.
Currently, the Ministry of Education and Training is also finalizing the Draft Decree on allowances, proposing to support 15-25% of salary for non-teaching positions such as equipment, library, medical, clerical, and security - a step forward to realize the State's policies.
Source: https://nhandan.vn/o-lai-voi-nghe-cho-duoc-goi-ten-post889557.html
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