Ho Chi Minh City only recruited 50% of the required number of teachers, seeking solutions.

Of these, the most difficult is recruiting primary and secondary school teachers, due to the lack of or very few applicants, or applicants not meeting the required conditions and standards.

Each year, Ho Chi Minh City needs to recruit an average of nearly 5,000 additional teachers for all levels of education from preschool to high school, but the number of successful candidates only reaches about 50% of the demand, and in some subjects, there are no applicants at all.

In District 1, according to a report from the Department of Education and Training, from the 2020-2021 school year to the 2023-2024 school year, the district consistently failed to recruit enough teachers to meet its needs.

Specifically, in the 2020-2021 school year, the recruitment need was 194 teachers, but only 71 candidates were actually selected and assigned to positions, representing 36.59%. In the 2021-2022 school year, the need was 280, with 46 people assigned, a rate of 16.42%. In the 2022-2023 school year, the need was 304, with 90 teachers assigned, a rate of 29.6%. In the 2023-2024 school year, the need was 276, with 79 teachers assigned, a rate of 28.62%. Thus, over the four years, District 1 has only recruited 26.13% of the required number of teachers.

According to Mr. Vo Cao Long, Head of the Education and Training Department of District 1, the shortage of teachers is serious and prolonged. Preschools and primary schools lack teachers in many subjects: English, physical education , music, fine arts, computer science, and the head of the Youth Union; secondary schools lack teachers in literature, history, geography, industrial technology, fine arts, Chinese, Japanese, and the head of the Youth Union. The number of teachers has not met the quotas set out in the job position plan.

Mr. Long stated that the number of teachers living in District 1 and neighboring districts is very small. Many teachers from the provinces have to rent accommodation, and the distance from their residences to their workplaces is far, so they do not stay at their workplaces for long periods and will eventually request transfers or resign.

In addition, there is the situation where newly recruited teachers, after a short time, resign or change jobs due to job insecurity caused by pressure, insufficient salary, and inadequate benefits and policies. There is also a "brain drain" phenomenon among young teachers; after receiving professional training from the school, they are willing to switch jobs because the income at private schools is more attractive than at public schools.

Policies to Attract Talented Individuals

In light of this situation, Mr. Tong Phuoc Loc stated that for the 2024-2025 school year, Ho Chi Minh City has set out five solutions to gradually overcome the difficulties existing in the teacher recruitment process.

First, the city government requests that localities strengthen the promotion of teacher recruitment through various media channels to attract local human resources and resources from other provinces and cities to work in Ho Chi Minh City.

The policy proposal to attract primary school teachers to public primary schools in subjects that are difficult to recruit, such as English, computer science, physical education, music, and art, should be finalized soon.

The Department of Education and Training will continue to commission training programs at universities to recruit teachers for positions at all levels. It will also coordinate and effectively implement policies to attract and cultivate a pool of qualified personnel from outstanding university graduates.

Accordingly, the Department of Education and Training has issued documents to the National University of Ho Chi Minh City and universities in the city to strengthen and disseminate this policy among students. To date, it has received a list of 356 excellent graduating students from the University of Natural Sciences (25 students), Saigon University (15), Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology and Education (7), Ho Chi Minh City University of Industry (65), Ho Chi Minh City University of Economics (194), and Ho Chi Minh City University of Industry and Trade (50).

Outstanding students and young scientists, if recruited, will benefit from policies such as: receiving 100% of their salary during the probationary period, an additional allowance equal to 100% of their salary based on the salary coefficient, priority in training and fostering basic knowledge of political theory, state management, and specialized knowledge in education. They will also be given priority in undertaking scientific and technological research tasks, programs, projects, and initiatives at the university level and above.

DELEGATION OF TEACHER RECRUITMENT RESPONSIBILITIES TO PRINCIPALS

Mr. Tong Phuoc Loc stated that the review and pilot program for decentralizing recruitment will continue for public non-profit units that partially self-finance their recurrent expenditures, and public non-profit units whose recurrent expenditures are fully covered by the State, under the Department of Education and Training, which have consistently struggled for many years to find candidates willing to take on the job and sign employment contracts.

To date, the Department of Education and Training has piloted the decentralization of civil servant recruitment for 29 units. In 2024 alone, the Department of Education and Training intensified the decentralization of civil servant recruitment for principals of 9 public non-profit units that partially self-finance their operating expenses and are located far from the city center. These include 7 high schools in Cu Chi District, 1 school in Thu Duc City, and 1 school in Binh Chanh District.

"In reality, when given more autonomy, schools have found it much easier to recruit teachers, gradually improving the quality of education. However, to ensure fair recruitment across schools and maintain quality, the Department still monitors the process to ensure optimal effectiveness of decentralization. Expanding recruitment authority aims to help schools in suburban areas be more proactive in teacher recruitment," said Mr. Ho Tan Minh, Chief of the Office of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training, assessing the decentralization of recruitment.

According to the current recruitment mechanism for the education sector, the Department of Education and Training is responsible for recruiting high school teachers, while affiliated schools and districts are responsible for recruiting kindergarten to junior high school teachers.

In late July, during a meeting with a survey team from the National Assembly's Committee on Culture and Education regarding the Law on Teachers, Ms. Mai Thi Hong Hoa, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of District 1, stated that the locality is studying a pilot program to delegate the authority to recruit teachers to school principals.

According to Ms. Hoa, principals should be given the authority to recruit teachers, utilize them effectively, and be responsible for the recruitment process. This is because principals are the supervisors and bear the highest responsibility for the quality of education and the effectiveness of work at their institutions. Principals will have the best understanding of which teachers the school needs and what their qualifications are…