There is still a shortage of 696 preschool teachers. What solutions does Ho Chi Minh City have?

The above information was announced by Mr. Ho Tan Minh, Chief of Office of the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City, at a press conference providing information on socio -economic issues in Ho Chi Minh City on the afternoon of January 4, 2024.

Mr. Ho Tan Minh said that up to now, the total number of preschool teachers receiving salaries from the budget in Ho Chi Minh City is 10,562 people.

In the 2023-2024 school year, the city needs to recruit 1,207 preschool teachers. However, so far only 511 people have been recruited. There is still a shortage of 696 preschool teachers and more recruitment is needed. In fact, at present, near the end of the first semester of the 2023-2024 school year, many places in Ho Chi Minh City are still recruiting preschool teachers.

Not only are there a shortage of teachers in public educational institutions, but the situation of not being able to recruit teachers is also common in non-public preschools.

The Chief of Office of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training said that the shortage of teachers in preschools has several causes. Firstly, the number of graduates is not enough to recruit, and students are not interested in enrolling in preschool education.

At the same time, although Ho Chi Minh City has a policy to attract preschool teachers, it still cannot meet the living needs in the city, especially teachers from the provinces who have to rent houses. The time spent on preschool education takes up the whole day, and on weekends, teachers do not have time to work extra to earn extra income to cover their living expenses.

Mr. Minh said that the solution of the city's education sector in the past time is to organize flexible recruitment of civil servants in many forms such as examination, selection or admission to work as civil servants and recruit in many batches during the year until meeting the demand according to the provisions of Decree No. 115/2020/ND-CP dated September 25, 2020 of the Government regulating the recruitment, use and management of civil servants; Decree No. 85/2023/ND-CP dated December 7, 2023 of the Government amending and supplementing a number of articles of Decree No. 115/2020/ND-CP.

Besides, to ensure enough staff to operate, preschools sign contracts with teachers while not yet recruiting official staff.

The Ho Chi Minh City education sector is continuing to propose and develop policies to attract preschool teachers, overcome financial difficulties, and participate long-term with the sector and the unit. At the same time, it is strengthening coordination with training institutions to have policies to attract students to study preschool education...