NA Deputy Do Huy Khanh (Dong Nai), when discussing the draft resolution on policies for breakthroughs in education and training, emphasized a point in the draft resolution stating that the director of the Department of Education and Training holds authority over recruitment, acceptance, reassignment, transfer, secondment of teachers, education managers and staff at public preschools, general schools and continuing education centers within the province.

He shared a real situation in his locality: “Dong Nai has 95 communes and wards with thousands of schools from preschool to primary and secondary levels. Each unit of the department (preschool, primary, secondary, high school) has only five staff members. Can those people conduct teacher recruitment for all units? Definitely impossible.”

According to the deputy, delegating recruitment authority to schools also can’t solve the problem because schools still need to prepare plans, report, wait for departmental approval, and only then can they post job announcements. 

This multi-step process causes long delays, while the Education Law requires practical teaching sessions in the recruitment assessment.

“If the province organizes a centralized exam for thousands of preschools, primary schools and secondary schools, can it be managed properly?” he said.

He raised concerns about exam preparation, jury board formation and grading, tasks he personally takes part in. Many teachers have to travel hundreds of kilometers to sit the exam. 

“Some schools are 200km away. It’s very inconvenient for candidates to gather at provincial agencies to take exam,” he said.

In addition, he worries that after schools report to the department that recruitment has been completed, the department will issue documents sending results back to communes. “Under the Law on Local Government Organization, the person who signs the appointment and placement decision is not the department director but the commune chair. This shows overlapping authority,” he said.

Therefore, it would be better to authorize schools to recruit teachers for themselves once they need to hire. Communes should only need to post a single recruitment announcement, without unnecessary complicated procedures. In general, schools should be given the power to recruit teachers provided that they report the recruitment to communes.

Authority decentralization 

NA Deputy Nguyen Van Manh (Phu Tho) agreed with the decentralization of authority for department directors and commune chairs regarding recruitment, use and management of education personnel.

“However, I propose that the drafting committee review the decentralization allowing department directors to exercise full authority over reassignment, transfer, secondment, placement, task assignment and job changes for teachers, managers and staff at public education institutions, especially those involving two or more commune-level administrative units,” he said.

According to him, this authority should only be assigned to department directors in three cases: public education institutions under the management of the department; secondment when moving teachers or staff from surplus communes to those lacking personnel; and reassignment or appointment of managers at public education institutions involving two or more commune-level administrative units.

“I propose decentralizing authority to commune chairs to carry out recruitment, rotation, transfer and assignment for teachers and staff at public education institutions within their jurisdiction and involving two or more commune-level administrative units, based on job positions and staffing quotas approved by competent authorities, avoiding unnecessary administrative procedures,” Deputy Manh said.

Deputy Nguyen Tam Hung (HCMC) showed his interest in authority in establishing and approving educational operations. “Article 52 of the draft law amending and supplementing several articles of the Education Law assigns commune chairs the authority to establish preschools, primary schools and secondary schools.

“I propose that the drafting committee review and add competency standards for commune-level appraisal and include provincial-level oversight mechanisms to avoid establishing schools without meeting facility requirements, which would result in teachers bearing quality risks and pressure from parents, inspectors and society,” he said.

Regarding the allowances for teachers, under the draft, the preferential allowance is set at 70 percent for preschool and general education teachers; 30 percent for staff; and 100 percent for teachers working in extremely disadvantaged areas.

This shows the attention given to the teaching workforce. The teachers law sets the principle that teachers are placed at the highest salary level within the public administrative pay system. 

The teaching profession requires educators to maintain their image and standards to serve as role models for students. Unlike many other professions, teachers cannot freely take on extra jobs to supplement their income; even tutoring in their own subject is strictly regulated to avoid affecting their main teaching duties.

Thuy Nga