Schools in Ho Chi Minh City are facing difficulties in recruiting English teachers as the 2018-2019 school year approaches.

An English class. Illustrative photo

According to the city's Department of Education and Training, local schools need 360 more teachers including 70 English teachers.

"Almost all districts in the city need more English teachers," the department said. "Some districts face serious shortages. Thu Duc District needs 15 English teachers for local primary and secondary schools while District 8 needs 24 more."

Recruiting English teachers has become more challenging for local schools, especially primary schools since a new regulation from the Ministry of Education and Training required English teachers to meet the quota of teaching 23 classes a week in order to have monthly salary before getting the extra payment from the 24th classes. 

"The new regulations have discouraged local English teachers who can easily find another job with better payment in the city," the department explained. "Even if they agree to work for us, we can lose them at any time when they find a better opportunity outside."

Deputy head of the city Department of Education and Training, Nguyen Van Hieu, pointed out one more reason, saying that many Vietnamese teachers have resigned due to disappointment when seeing that Filipino teachers with the same expertise and skills as theirs are paid up to USD2,000 a month. 

The official expressed concern that they would not be able to carry out the project intended to provide English lessons to 100 percent of city primary schools by 2030.

"With a monthly salary of around VND3 million (USD132), how can we attract English teachers for the project?" he said.

Dtinews