Vocational schools in Hai Duong have difficulty recruiting teachers.

Low income

The College of Tourism and Industry in Cam Giang is short of about 10 teachers, including many in important fields such as automotive technology, industrial electricity, etc. Although the school has discussed and cooperated with technical universities nationwide to invite graduates to teach, it is still very difficult. Many schools have mechanisms to recruit students after graduation but they are still unable to recruit.

Mr. Vu Xuan Kien, Vice Principal of the school, said the main reason is the low income of vocational teachers. “Graduates majoring in automotive technology at the school can earn a salary of 9-10 million VND/month when working at enterprises. With such a salary difference, it is very difficult to invite them to stay and become lecturers,” Mr. Kien said.

Mr. Pham Van Chat in Dong Quang commune (Gia Loc), who studied at the Faculty of Technical Education of Hanoi University of Science and Technology, said that he initially planned to apply to teach at a vocational school after graduation, but when he found out that the income was low, he "changed" to work as an engineer for a Japanese company right in Dai An industrial park. "With an income of less than 10 million VND, many people do not want to work as a teacher at a vocational school while businesses always roll out the red carpet to welcome qualified and skilled engineers," said Mr. Chat.

Creating resources from the school's own students is the way many vocational training institutions in Hai Duong have implemented, but the results are not positive.

According to Mr. Nguyen Minh Vy, Vice Principal of the College of Waterway Transport I in Nam Dong Ward (Hai Duong City), training vocational teachers on-site has many advantages. Students are familiar with the vocational education environment; proficient in the skills they learned at school. "However, most of the excellent and skilled students refused when the school invited them to stay and become teachers," Mr. Vy shared.

Hai Duong currently has 33 vocational training institutions and enterprises participating in vocational training activities. Many vocational training institutions are struggling with the problem of recruiting and retaining teachers. Even many lecturers and vocational teachers with many years of experience have left the profession due to low income.

Need better policy

The Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs is seeking comments on the Project “Building and developing a team of teachers and vocational education managers for the period 2024-2035”. The project aims to attract 120,000 artisans, experts, skilled workers, and vocational trainers to participate in vocational education. The goal is clear, but attracting teachers to vocational schools is not easy.

According to Mr. Vu Trung Hieu, Principal of Hai Duong Vocational College, which is resolutely implementing the Project "Developing human resources to meet production and business requirements, contributing to building Hai Duong into a modern industrial province by 2030", ensuring and improving the quality of teachers for vocational training institutions is very important.

To attract teachers to vocational schools, the State needs to have better policies. In addition to ensuring income, vocational school teachers also need to be given the opportunity to study to improve their qualifications and skills. Vocational schools can promote international cooperation so that teachers can catch up with knowledge and teaching skills at the regional and international levels.

Circular 07/2023/TT-BLDTBXH of the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs officially took effect 8 months ago. The Circular stipulates codes, professional title standards, salary scales, conditions for examination or promotion of civil servant titles in the field of vocational education. According to this regulation, the highest salary of vocational school teachers can be up to more than 14 million VND/month.

“However, not all teachers receive this salary. New teachers will only receive a salary of about 4-5 million VND/month, which is too low compared to the actual needs of life. Therefore, the State needs to soon study a mechanism specifically for vocational school teachers so that they can work with peace of mind,” said Mr. NVH, a new teacher at a vocational school in Cam Giang district.

Hai Duong vocational schools need to diversify training and development forms; compile appropriate training materials and programs. Create conditions for teachers to participate in vocational education conferences. Organize domestic and foreign training and development for teachers of key international and regional occupations according to advanced foreign programs; focus on vocational skills training, international vocational teaching pedagogy, foreign languages, and information technology. Schools also need to cooperate well with businesses, especially high-tech businesses with modern production lines, so that teachers can regularly update and access new science and technology.

With a satisfactory compensation policy, hopefully vocational schools will no longer have to struggle to recruit and retain teachers as they do now.