How to recruit teachers for the new school year?

By the end of the 2024-2025 school year, the country will still lack 120,000 teachers at all levels, of which nearly 45,000 preschool teachers will be lacking.

High school students in Nghe An . This year, the locality lacks nearly 5,000 teachers - Photo: DOAN HOA

How will teacher recruitment for the new school year be carried out?

The draft decree guiding the implementation of the Law on Teachers also sets out the assignment of initiative to principals of educational institutions in recruiting teachers. However, these institutions must ensure a number of specific and strict conditions to be granted this authority.

Mr. Vu Minh Duc (Director of the Department of Teachers and Educational Managers, Ministry of Education and Training)

Many places lack teachers

In Hanoi, the 2024-2025 school year will still see a shortage of over 6,200 teachers at all levels. According to Mr. Tran The Cuong - Director of the Hanoi Department of Education and Training, areas with favorable socio -economic conditions have more attractive job options than teachers.

Meanwhile, the teaching profession is under a lot of pressure. Although the salary has improved, it is still lower than many other jobs. Therefore, recruiting contract teachers to compensate for the local shortage of teachers, especially teachers of some subjects such as art, computer science, etc. is difficult.

According to Mr. Thai Van Thanh - Director of the Department of Education and Training, Nghe An province still lacks nearly 5,000 teachers before the 2025 - 2026 school year. There is a shortage in high school and continuing education when the number of students increases mechanically and there is a shortage to implement 2 sessions/day teaching at primary and secondary schools.

According to Mr. Nguyen Thien Van - acting chairman of Dak Lak Provincial People's Committee, the province is currently short of over 1,200 teachers. The solution to compensate before the new school year is to use contract teachers while waiting for additional recruitment.

Talking to Tuoi Tre about the situation of teachers before the 2025-2026 school year, Mr. Vu Minh Duc, Director of the Department of Teachers and Educational Managers (Ministry of Education and Training), said that after the province's merger, the situation of teachers will have fluctuations.

Many localities after the merger will arrange and rotate teachers from places with surplus to places with shortage, fundamentally solving the teacher shortage. However, there may also be a greater shortage when the two old provinces before the merger were both lacking.

Based on data from the provinces and cities after the merger, the Ministry of Education and Training will have specific instructions or guidance for new situations.

According to Mr. Vu Minh Duc, the shortage of teachers is primarily due to the fact that localities have not assigned enough quotas according to the teacher standards for each level of education, in accordance with new requirements.

In addition, the mechanical implementation of the 10% reduction in local career staff has caused a local shortage of teachers in some areas, grades, and subjects. Migration and mechanical population growth in some age groups in some areas have caused an increase in the scale of education, which is also the reason for the shortage of teachers.

When implementing the 2018 General Education Program, some new subjects at all levels lacked teachers, such as information technology, foreign languages, and arts (information technology and foreign languages at primary school level were previously elective subjects but are now compulsory).

Meanwhile, due to regulations on training standards, many localities cannot recruit teachers in primary subjects...

Students at a kindergarten in Hanoi during the previous school year - Photo: VINH HA

Assign Department of Education and Training to recruit teachers

According to Circular No. 15 dated July 24 guiding the functions, tasks, and powers of the Department of Education and Training and the Department of Culture and Social Affairs under the People's Committees at the commune level issued by the Ministry of Education and Training, the Department of Education and Training has the authority to recruit teachers. However, this will have to be delegated by the People's Committees of the provinces and cities.

Regarding the direction of assigning the Department of Education and Training to recruit teachers, Mr. Pham Ngoc Thuong, Deputy Minister of Education and Training, said that previously the focal point for managing teachers from preschool - primary - secondary school was under the management of the district level.

There are 705 centers nationwide. This is the reason for the local shortage of teachers that cannot be resolved at the provincial level because the provincial level does not have the authority to mobilize teachers between different districts.

Currently, when implementing a two-level government, there is no longer an intermediate level of district, many tasks are being assigned to the new commune and ward levels. But if teacher recruitment were assigned to the commune and ward levels, the whole country would have 3,321 focal points.

The recruitment, management and mobilization of teachers continues to be fragmented, making the previous shortcomings even greater. Not to mention that the commune level hardly has the capacity to develop exam questions and grade teacher recruitment exams to ensure the quality and requirements set by the education sector.

Previously, the whole country had 705 district levels, which were 705 focal points for managing cadres and teachers from preschool, primary, and secondary schools. This is one of the reasons for the local shortage of teachers. Because the district level cannot transfer teachers from one district to another.

Therefore, if we now assign the responsibility of recruiting and mobilizing teachers to the commune level, the whole country will have 3,321 focal points, the situation of local teacher surplus and shortage will become more serious because it is impossible to transfer teachers from one commune to another. Not to mention, can the commune level develop exam questions and grade teacher recruitment exams in the current context?

According to Mr. Vu Minh Duc, instead of having 3,321 focal points, if it is brought to 34 focal points (34 Departments of Education and Training), it will be much more convenient. The Department of Education and Training also ensures professional capacity to recruit qualified teachers, close to the requirements.

When transferred to the Department of Education and Training, it can be implemented in the direction that each candidate has many different wishes. If the first wish is not passed, the second, third, or fourth wish can be accepted...

One exam can meet many different needs. The Department of Education and Training also closely monitors the situation of teacher shortages to develop plans for recruiting and coordinating teachers in the province.

Some provinces have done it quite smoothly.

Mr. Vu Minh Duc said that in the latest draft decree guiding the implementation of the Law on Teachers, the Ministry of Education and Training also sets out a direction for the future.

Accordingly, the first round of the teacher recruitment exam can be conducted nationwide (organized by the Ministry of Education and Training) or in clusters (organized by several departments of education and training). After passing the first round, the departments of education and training can continue to organize the second round with criteria suitable to the characteristics of the region and the subjects.

"In the criteria for recruiting teachers, we will have to focus on pedagogical practice. We may have to set criteria such as the ability to develop plans, organize education (teaching), test and evaluate students and solve pedagogical situations...", Mr. Duc said.

According to Mr. Vu Minh Duc, currently, some provincial People's Committees have assigned the recruitment of teachers to the Department of Education and Training and the implementation is quite favorable, such as Nghe An, Quang Tri...

In reality, the implementation of recruitment, teacher mobilization, appointment of principals, vice principals... still has problems that, according to commune-level education officials and representatives of the Department of Education and Training, legal documents are in conflict.

Discussing this issue, Mr. Duc said that the Ministry of Education and Training will have specific instructions on this matter. Accordingly, school principals are responsible for reporting on teacher recruitment needs to the commune and ward levels. The commune and ward levels will synthesize and advise the Department of Education and Training to develop a plan for recruiting and mobilizing teachers in the province.

According to Mr. Duc, in the guidelines to be issued, the Ministry of Education and Training also clearly states that in cases where recruitment has not been carried out, the Ministry of Education and Training requests the People's Committees of provinces and cities to consider allocating funds to implement labor contracts, mobilize, second, and arrange inter-school positions in the province or city to ensure enough teachers for the new school year.

Along with that, provinces and cities must pay attention to working conditions, overtime pay, housing arrangements and other conditions to ensure living and working conditions for teachers.

Ministry and localities coordinate

According to Mr. Vu Minh Duc, by giving proactive authority to the Department of Education and Training, it is basically possible to solve the problems of inadequate teaching staff in the province. In cases where coordination between provinces and cities is needed, the Ministry of Education and Training will work with localities to find solutions.

To solve the difficulty in recruiting for some specific subjects such as information technology and art, the Ministry of Education and Training has also consulted to issue a decree giving the Minister of Education and Training the authority to decide on the recruitment of unqualified teachers who are in the process of upgrading their qualifications until 2030. After 2030, there will be no more recruitment of unqualified teachers.

The whole country has nearly 1.28 million teachers.

According to data from the Ministry of Education and Training, by the end of the 2024-2025 school year, the country will have nearly 1.28 million teachers from preschool to high school, an increase of nearly 22,000 compared to the previous school year. From 2022-2025, the Ministry of Education and Training will coordinate with the Ministry of Home Affairs to report to the Central Government to add 65,980 teacher positions to localities.

But in the 2024-2025 school year, there will still be about 60,000 assigned teacher positions that are not recruited for various reasons.

Ho Chi Minh City needs to recruit 4,865 teachers from kindergarten to high school.

Ho Chi Minh City needs to recruit 616 preschool teachers for the new school year. In the photo: teachers and students of Son Ca Kindergarten (Ho Chi Minh City) - Photo: NHU HUNG

In Ho Chi Minh City, based on the review and proposed needs from schools in 168 wards, communes, and special zones after merging with Binh Duong and Ba Ria - Vung Tau provinces, in the new school year 2025 - 2026, Ho Chi Minh City needs to recruit 4,865 more teachers from kindergarten to high school.

Responding to Tuoi Tre, the leader of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training said that based on the authorized authority, the department will prepare personnel for the 2025-2026 school year in Ho Chi Minh City. Accordingly, this school year the department will organize the recruitment of civil servants for the entire education sector in Ho Chi Minh City in the form of selection.

This new school year, through review and registration, in 168 wards, communes, and special zones, there is a local shortage of teachers and an uneven shortage of teachers in different subjects.

Of the total number of teachers needed to recruit, 4,865, the subjects with the highest shortage of teachers currently fall into different subjects and levels. Preschool level needs 616 teachers; primary school lacks 801 teachers to teach many subjects (192 music teachers, 205 art teachers, 204 IT teachers, 192 English teachers; 155 physical education teachers and 157 teachers who are also leaders of the Youth Union).

At the secondary level, Ho Chi Minh City is lacking 414 history and geography teachers, 412 literature teachers and 302 math teachers. At the high school level, the biggest teacher shortage is in literature with 101 teachers and history with 76 teachers.

The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training will recruit teachers through two rounds of selection. Round 1 will check the eligibility requirements on the application form according to the job position requirements. Round 2 will be a practical test to test knowledge and professional skills according to the job position requirements.

In the coming time, in parallel with recruiting teachers according to demand, the department will also have a plan to reduce the local surplus and shortage of teachers, encourage young teachers to volunteer to teach in remote schools... Specifically, after implementing the recruitment, the department will have a rotation plan for units that have a local surplus and shortage in some subjects throughout the city.

"Regarding decentralization and delegation of authority in recruiting civil servants, we will review and inspect. If the People's Committees of wards, communes, special zones and affiliated units are capable of carrying out recruitment work, the Department of Education and Training will advise the City People's Committee to decentralize or delegate recruitment authority after receiving guidance from the Department of Education and Training on implementing the recruitment process according to regulations," the leader of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training told Tuoi Tre.

Temporary solution

In the previous school year, many localities had temporary solutions such as rotating and mobilizing teachers within the commune and district, seconding teachers to support areas with shortages, contracting with teachers for certain subjects, and arranging teachers to teach between schools and levels. However, these were only temporary solutions. In particular, they only solved the problem within the commune and district (according to the old government apparatus).

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VINH HA - MY DUNG

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/tuyen-giao-vien-nam-hoc-moi-ra-sao-20250814094615994.htm