The Ministry of Education and Training is collecting opinions on the Draft dossier proposing the development of a National Assembly resolution allowing the recruitment of people with college degrees to teach a number of subjects according to the new General Education Program (GPTM).

Teachers and students of Pho Cuong Primary School (Duc Pho Town) during class. Photo: TRINH PHUONG

The draft resolution stipulates the recruitment of people with college degrees to teach a number of subjects, including: History and Geography, Natural Sciences, Technology, Foreign Languages, Information Technology, and Arts (Music, Fine Arts) according to the General Education Program for primary and secondary schools. According to the Ministry of Education and Training, by the end of the first semester of the 2022-2023 school year, localities nationwide had recruited more than 15,000 teachers, reaching 55.5% of the assigned target. One of the reasons why localities have not recruited all the additional assigned positions is the lack of recruitment sources, especially for the subjects of Technology, History and Geography, Natural Sciences, and special subjects such as Information Technology, Foreign Languages, and Arts.

Faced with this situation, the Ministry of Education and Training submitted a report to the Government to the National Assembly for consideration and decision to allow localities lacking teachers and having staff to recruit teachers with a college degree in pedagogy or a college degree with a certificate of pedagogical training to teach a number of subjects under the General Education Program. After being recruited, these teachers will participate in the roadmap to improve their qualifications according to the provisions of Decree No. 71/2020/ND-CP of the Government to ensure that by 2030 they meet the training standards according to the 2019 Education Law.

In Quang Ngai, in recent years, the Provincial People's Committee has had a policy to recruit thousands of teachers. However, many localities are facing a shortage of recruitment sources. In 2023, to overcome the surplus and shortage of teachers in educational institutions, the Provincial People's Committee agreed to recruit 1,192 teachers. Localities have implemented procedures and processes for recruiting teachers for public preschool and general education institutions under their management according to regulations. As a result, the Department of Education and Training and localities have recruited a total of 719/1,192 teachers. Due to not having enough recruitment quotas, many schools in the province continue to contract teachers to ensure teaching activities.

Duc Pho town is one of the localities lacking many teachers. For many consecutive years, the recruitment source has not been guaranteed according to the provisions of the 2019 Education Law. Head of the Department of Education and Training of Duc Pho town, Hoang Hai, said that in the town, there are currently 14/15 schools that have to contract teachers due to the recruitment source not being guaranteed.

Head of the Department of Education and Training of Binh Son District, Dinh Hung Cuong, proposed that the draft should be expanded to include elementary school teachers with college degrees to teach. Currently, Binh Son District is still short of 50 elementary school teachers to implement the General Education Program. In recent years, to ensure teachers in class, especially at the elementary level, schools in the district have flexibly signed teacher contracts. However, teacher contracts are only a temporary solution, and in the long term, it will be difficult to ensure the quality of local education and training.

Director of the Department of Education and Training Nguyen Ngoc Thai emphasized that the province is currently lacking hundreds of teachers for subjects under the General Education Program at primary and secondary levels. Therefore, the policy of recruiting people with college degrees to teach a number of subjects under the General Education Program is necessary and appropriate in the current situation. Allowing the recruitment of teachers with college degrees will promptly supplement the number of teachers to implement the General Education Program in a number of new subjects and special subjects. From there, it will ensure the effective implementation of the National Assembly's resolutions on innovation of general education textbooks.

TRINH PHUONG