Post-merger teacher recruitment: Flexible process, convenient for candidates

Many new points

In mid-August 2025, the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City announced the teacher recruitment plan for the 2025-2026 school year. Accordingly, the total demand for teachers in the first round of public educational institutions in Ho Chi Minh City is 6,397 people. Specifically, 671 teachers belong to units under the Department (high schools, continuing education schools) and 5,726 teachers belong to public service units under the People's Committees of wards, communes, and special zones. Of which, 615 are preschoolers, 2,040 are primary schoolers, and 3,071 are secondary schoolers.

This is also the first year that the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training directly recruits teachers for all levels of education, in accordance with the decentralization of local government operations into two levels from July 1, 2025.

Mr. Nguyen Van Hieu - Deputy Director of the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City, said that although the surplus and shortage of teachers is currently occurring locally in some localities, especially in Region 2 (formerly Binh Duong) and Region 3 (formerly Ba Ria - Vung Tau ), it is not possible to apply the regulation on teacher transfer. Because the transfer only appears in the Law on Teachers, which takes effect from January 1, 2026. Therefore, the Department only mobilizes and transfers according to the wishes of teachers. When transferring, teachers must have an application, the place of departure and destination must agree, and the competent authority must make the decision.

In the 2025-2026 school year, Ho Chi Minh City will apply a closed and flexible recruitment process. Specifically, in the recruitment of teachers, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training will organize a closed recruitment process in parallel with "running and lining up". If in previous years, round 1 was a general knowledge test after candidates had submitted their applications, this year, the recruitment regulations will be implemented right from the application receiving round to ensure timeliness.

When a candidate submits an application, the Recruitment Council will review the data immediately so that by the end of the application period, round 1 (screening) is considered complete and the candidate enters round 2 (interview, practice). The interview content will test the candidate's knowledge and professional skills according to the requirements of the job position.

In particular, the recruitment of teachers in Ho Chi Minh City is divided into 3 regions. This is to match the scale of the Ho Chi Minh City Education sector after the merger, with more than 2,100 public educational institutions from preschool to high school, creating conditions for candidates to participate in the recruitment without having to travel far. In addition, this year, all candidates applying for teacher positions in Ho Chi Minh City are allowed to register 2 school preferences according to the region, without any restrictions on current residence.

Students of Dang Tran Con Primary School (Vinh Hoi Ward, Ho Chi Minh City) return to school for the 2025-2026 school year. Photo: TH

Advantages for candidates

This year's teacher recruitment not only helps the school, but also opens up many opportunities for candidates. Ms. NLL (Dien Hong Ward, Ho Chi Minh City), who has just submitted her application to apply for a Math teacher position, said that she used to teach on contract at a suburban high school, but because the distance from home to school was too far (more than 20km), she decided to quit.

When she heard that the Department of Education and Training was recruiting, she registered with the hope of finding new opportunities at public schools. “Currently, I have applied to a high school and a middle school in the inner city. Compared to previous years, this year the recruitment process opens up more opportunities for applicants, I will try my best to achieve high results in this recruitment period,” Ms. L. shared.

Mr. Nguyen Van Ngai - former Deputy Director of the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City, said that this year, the recruitment process is carried out by a single agency, the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City, helping to ensure consistency, publicity and transparency throughout the city.

At the same time, the recruiting unit will have an overview of the teacher needs of the schools. Centralized recruitment helps to allocate teachers more effectively, ensuring that places with shortages will have enough teachers and places with surpluses will not be overloaded. In previous school years, the recruitment of preschool, primary and secondary school teachers was carried out by the People's Committees of districts, while the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City only recruited high school teachers.

“In particular, the fact that candidates can choose 2 schools that suit their abilities and desires, without being limited to their current residence, will create conditions for qualified candidates to choose a suitable working environment, ensuring that the school has enough teachers. Avoid the case of candidates being accepted but not staying long term.

This mechanism helps schools with recruitment needs fill their quotas faster. Candidates will tend to choose schools that are close to their place of residence or that are suitable for them, minimizing the situation of being admitted but not accepting the position because the geographical distance is too far,” Mr. Ngai shared.

Director of the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City Nguyen Van Hieu added that, with the recruitment of teachers for the 2025-2026 school year, if after considering both wishes, there are still vacancies in the schools, the department will continue to organize recruitment based on the previous exam results of the candidates.

Candidates who are not accepted in both previous choices but achieve a score of 50 or higher (on a 100-point scale) will continue to participate in the recruitment and register for positions that are still lacking in quota. The Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City will announce a list of schools that are still lacking in quota for candidates to choose from.

Mr. Tong Phuoc Loc - Head of the Department of Organization and Personnel, Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City, said: “From August 15 to September 18, the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City will review the documents and notify qualified candidates; the second round of practical exams will be held from September 22 to 25. On September 25 to 27, the recruitment results will be announced.

After the first round of recruitment ends (end of September 2025), the Department of Education and Training will continue to review, compile statistics and organize recruitment for staff positions at all public educational institutions in the city. This is to ensure that schools can proactively sign contracts for staff positions in the new school year 2025 - 2026.

Source: https://giaoducthoidai.vn/tuyen-dung-giao-vien-sau-sap-nhap-quy-trinh-linh-hoat-tao-thuan-loi-cho-ung-vien-post746143.html