Minister of Education and Training answers a series of hot issues for teachers

Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son shares with teachers

Policies for preschool teachers, increasing income for school staff, increasing teacher quotas, providing additional facilities for the new general education program, eliminating competitions... are issues that teachers raised with Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son in an online meeting this morning, August 15.

This is also the first time in history that the Minister of Education and Training has met and shared with 700,000 preschool, primary, secondary and high school teachers nationwide, through online form. About 6,500 questions were sent.

Difficulties in implementing the new program

Lack of teachers and lack of facilities are issues that many teachers mention when talking about difficulties in education.

Speaking on behalf of teachers in Dien Bien province, teacher Le Thi Tuyet Huong, Thanh Nua Kindergarten, said that Dien Bien province is currently lacking teachers and also lacking recruitment resources in some specialized subjects such as English, Information Technology, Music, and Fine Arts.

The conditions of facilities, subject classroom systems and accompanying equipment do not meet the requirements for implementing the 2018 general education program.

Regarding this issue, Mr. Nguyen Ba Dung, Principal of Kim Dong Primary School (Dak Glong District, Dak Nong Province) shared that the school faces many difficulties, such as a lack of teachers, not enough classrooms - subject classrooms, and a lack of and inconsistent teaching equipment.

Besides the problem of facilities, the teaching staff is also lacking when implementing the new program of teaching 2 sessions/day instead of 1 session as before, plus new compulsory subjects such as Foreign Language, Information Technology, experiential activities and elective subjects.

Therefore, Mr. Dung thinks that the norm of 1.5 teachers/class as prescribed for primary schools organizing 2 sessions/day is low compared to the demand for the number of workers, not to mention that teachers also have to calculate hours for other part-time activities such as homeroom teacher, trade union, etc.

Teacher shortage is one of the issues raised by teachers (illustrative photo)

Accordingly, Mr. Dung proposed that for primary schools, facilities that teach 2 sessions/day should arrange a teacher quota of 1.7 teachers/class to ensure enough staff.

Lack of teachers and teaching equipment to meet the needs of the new general education program is also the opinion of many other teachers such as Ms. Nguyen Thi Duyen, teacher at Tan Hoa Thanh Primary School (Tan Phuoc District, Tien Giang Province), Ms. Luu Truong Kim Tuyen (teacher at Nghia Lo Primary School, Quang Ngai City).

Regarding the issue of teacher quotas, Minister Nguyen Kim Son said that the Ministry of Education and Training is in charge of revising Circular 16 related to this issue. The Minister also asked teachers to contribute their opinions when the draft Circular 16 is published for comments in the near future.

Regarding the issue of facilities and teaching equipment, the Minister of Education and Training said that due to different conditions, many localities still face difficulties in building solid schools. The Minister also recommended that local leaders pay more attention to improving school facilities. Leaders of the Ministry of Education and Training also asked schools to make the most of existing equipment to serve teaching and learning well.

Raise salaries for teachers and school staff

Representative of teachers in Tien Giang province, Ms. Nguyen Thi Duyen, a teacher at Tan Hoa Thanh Primary School (Tan Phuoc district, Tien Giang province) said that many teachers want to keep the retirement age (60 for men and 55 for women), especially preschool teachers. She suggested that the Government's Staff Department have a policy to support teachers to retire at the above age but not at a disadvantage compared to the general policy. She also expressed her hope that the Minister would consider and propose a better salary for teachers in the shortest possible time.

Besides the issue of raising teachers' salaries, the issue of school staff income is also an issue raised by many teachers.

School health workers check equipment to prevent Covid-19

Ms. Tran Thi Phuong Thao (Le Anh Xuan Secondary School, Tan Phu District) said that the group of job positions related to service and support work in secondary schools has 8 positions, including: library; laboratory equipment; information technology; accounting; clerical; cashier; medical and educational support for the disabled. "The current situation is that the income of these employees is still too low, facing many difficulties to ensure their lives," Ms. Thao said.

Sharing from her own experience, Ms. Luong Thi Thuan Anh, a librarian at Tran Van Thoi Town Secondary School (Tran Van Thoi District, Ca Mau Province) said that school staff only have a basic salary, no allowances or if there are any, they are very low (for example, library staff receive a toxic allowance of 0.2 compared to the basic salary), and do not receive seniority allowances, so most of them cannot ensure a living for themselves and their families.

Therefore, many cadres and employees have lost their enthusiasm for their jobs and are looking for a way to make a living in other fields. As evidence, the annual recruitment of civil servants in the education sector for library, clerical, and equipment positions has very few applications, and currently these positions in some schools still lack specialized staff.

Discussing this issue, Minister Nguyen Kim Son affirmed that although there are few employees working in the education sector, each position plays an important role in the school. The Minister said that it is necessary to propose measures to increase salaries and income for this group. The Ministry is also proposing to increase a number of job positions.

However, according to Minister Nguyen Kim Son, the education sector cannot decide on salary issues on its own but needs to work with ministries, especially the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Home Affairs and higher levels. Therefore, along with the ministry's persistent recommendations, schools, school staff and teachers themselves need to make recommendations and speak up more to facilitate policy proposals.

Raising salaries is the wish of teachers (illustrative photo)

Regarding teachers' salaries and allowances, the Minister emphasized that Resolution 29 of the Party Central Committee on fundamental and comprehensive innovation in education and training states that teachers' salaries must be given the highest priority in the administrative and career salary scale system.

“That is our wish, but the road to realization still has a lot of work to do and requires convincing relevant ministries, branches and agencies. Our responsibility is to convince and we really need the contribution of society,” said Minister Nguyen Kim Son.

The principal has the right to refuse to take part in competitions.

Another issue that teachers are concerned about is that there are currently too many competitions in schools, causing pressure and affecting the teaching and learning of teachers and students.

Representing teachers in Hau Giang province, Ms. Ly Thi Trinh Nguyen said that in addition to competitions/contests for teachers and students in the education and training sector, there are many competitions launched by other ministries or localities that focus on education. Therefore, teachers are under a lot of pressure, spend a lot of time, and do not have the conditions to take care of their families. Ms. Nguyen recommended that the Minister pay attention and minimize unnecessary competitions.

“In order to organize competitions effectively, I think it is necessary to review and rearrange competitions during the school year, develop specific and detailed plans and roadmaps, and appropriate competition times and durations to help teachers and students at each level be able to invest in participating without affecting teachers’ expertise and students’ study time,” said Ms. Tran Thi Phuong Thao, Le Anh Xuan Secondary School, Tan Phu District, Ho Chi Minh City.

Minister Nguyen Kim Son said that the Ministry of Education and Training has issued document No. 5814 since 2017, clearly stating the list of competitions in schools.

“There are many competitions organized by ministries, organizations, and localities. School leaders need to make appropriate choices, avoiding organizing too many, overlapping, formalities, and affecting the main tasks of teachers and students,” said the Minister.

According to Vietnam+