In recent comments on the draft Resolution on special mechanisms and policies to promote breakthroughs in education and training, several National Assembly deputies proposed allowing schools to directly recruit teachers and report only to commune or ward authorities. So, how is teacher recruitment currently carried out?

In HCMC, recruitment of teachers from preschool to secondary school was traditionally handled by district-level People’s Committees in coordination with district education sub-departments. The municipal Department of Education and Training (DOET) was responsible only for hiring teachers for high schools under its management.

However, since 2022–2023, the HCMC DOET has piloted decentralizing recruitment to schools for the gifted, high schools, and preschools. To date, 29 schools have been granted the authority for autonomous teacher recruitment, based on the development strategy and practical conditions of each unit.

According to the HCMC DOET, this aims to meet requirements for comprehensive education reform and ensure autonomy, objectivity, and fairness. Schools that are decentralized must develop a recruitment project and follow the correct recruitment process under the supervision of the DOET to ensure the quality of human resources.

Since July 1, when the two-tier local government model was applied nationwide and the District DOETs were dissolved, the management of preschools, primary schools, and secondary schools has been transferred to Ward/Commune People's Committees and Special Zones.

When HCMC, Binh Duong and Ba Ria – Vung Tau merged in 2025, the municipal DOET for the first time recruited teachers for all levels: preschool, primary, secondary, high and continuing education. The recruitment process includes two rounds:

Round 1: Screening candidates based on application forms and job requirements. Qualified candidates proceed to Round 2.

Round 2: The recruitment council assesses professional knowledge and skills. Candidates draw a practical test question, present their understanding, demonstrate teaching skills, and answer questions from the evaluation panel within 15 minutes.

Selection is based on ranking from highest to lowest scores for each position at each school, following applicants’ preferences. Once the top-scoring candidate for a position is selected, the DOET continues working with lower-scoring candidates to consider them for the remaining or more suitable positions. This ensures the selection of teachers with the best professional competence and appropriate pedagogical skills.

Communes and wards should only recruit preschool teachers

Responding to proposals to let schools recruit teachers and report the recrutiment to local authorities, Associate Professor Nguyen Kim Hong, former Rector of HCMC University of Education, told VietNamNet that assigning teacher recruitment to commune or ward authorities carries clear risks: these grassroots administrations may not understand the real staffing needs of local schools.

If decentralization is pursued, he believes communes and wards should only be responsible for recruiting preschool teachers. Recruitment from primary level upward should be handled by the DOET, which can conduct 1–2 recruitment rounds per year based on proposals submitted by local schools.

“In reality, teacher resignations don’t occur as frequently as in other professions. We believe that teacher resignations leading to shortages are rare, especially for subjects with many teaching hours, such as Math, Literature, or Foreign Languages. The only possible limitation is not being able to recruit immediately when a teacher quits. But since teacher contracts are usually renewed annually, resignations are exceptional cases. In those cases, schools can still recruit from the pool of previously qualified candidates who were not selected due to limited quotas,” Hong said.

According to Hong, the only potential advantage of letting communes and wards recruit teachers is faster hiring. However, centralized recruitment by the DOET ensures more consistent teacher quality and meets the needs not just of one locality but of the entire city or province.

“As I mentioned, if recruitment is assigned to provinces, meaning to the DOET, then each year, schools, through their commune-level People’s Committees, will register their staffing needs. Based on these numbers, the DOET will organize one or two province-wide recruitment rounds annually. Centralized hiring ensures better quality for schools and helps equalize the overall quality of education. When schools have more uniform quality, choosing a school will no longer be as complicated as it is now,” he said.

The former rector emphasized that assigning teacher recruitment to local wards and communes is most appropriate only for the preschool level; from primary school upward, recruitment should be centralized one to two times per year, with additional rounds organized if localities face urgent needs.

Thuy Nga