The Ministry of Education and Training recently instructed local authorities to continue reorganizing the public education system by reducing the number of school administrative units by at least 30%, with localities that have favorable conditions expected to cut as many as 50% compared with the number of public schools on July 1, 2025.

The restructuring is expected to eliminate more than 11,000 schools by August 30, 2026, allowing greater investment in educational quality, governance and teaching.

As part of the process, more than 20,000 school management positions will be reorganized, with approximately 11,000 administrators reassigned to full-time teaching roles.

In a directive sent to the Ministry of Education and Training, the Ministry of Home Affairs and local authorities, the Prime Minister also called for reducing administrative staffing while increasing the number of teachers directly involved in classroom instruction.

Better use of existing human resources

According to Hoang Ngoc Vinh, former Director General of the Department of Vocational Education under the Ministry of Education and Training, consolidating schools could help reduce localized teacher shortages.

He said the reform would be particularly beneficial for subjects such as foreign languages, information technology, music and art, where teachers could be shared more effectively across merged schools.

"This could help address situations where some schools lack teachers in specific subjects and are forced to hire temporary staff, while allowing teachers to make better use of their professional capacity through increased teaching hours," Vinh said.

He added that returning experienced principals and vice principals to classrooms would provide schools with a valuable source of qualified teachers.

Transition requires more than staff reassignment

However, Vinh cautioned that the success of the policy will depend not only on personnel transfers but also on how those educators are supported after returning to teaching.

"The challenge is not simply moving people from one position to another," he said. "It is about how they are deployed, retrained and encouraged to use their experience effectively so that valuable educational resources are not wasted."

Although the government has introduced measures allowing affected administrators to retain certain leadership allowances, Vinh said financial protection alone would not address the broader transition.

"After spending many years leading an entire school, returning to classroom teaching is not simply a return to a previous profession," he noted. "The success of this restructuring should be measured not only by fewer administrative units and more efficient management, but also by how effectively these educators are reintegrated without losing motivation."

Vinh also pointed to potential challenges in classroom readiness.

Some former principals and vice principals have continued teaching regularly, while others have spent years focusing primarily on management responsibilities and may need to update their teaching methods, digital skills or assessment practices.

"If assignments are made based solely on qualifications and teaching quotas, the burden may ultimately fall on students and teaching departments," he said.

Ministry expects measurable impact

Vu Minh Duc, Director General of the Department of Teachers and Educational Administrators under the Ministry of Education and Training, said the ministry issued guidance on June 30 requiring local authorities to reorganize public preschools, general education institutions and continuing education centers while restructuring staffing.

Under the new model, each newly merged school will have one principal and vice principals responsible for different campuses.

Combined with broader teacher redeployment, the change will allow a significant number of former school administrators to return to classroom teaching.

"This will help partially address localized shortages of teachers," Duc said.

According to ministry statistics, Vietnam currently has approximately 98,000 education administrators nationwide.

The restructuring is expected to offset 20-25% of the country's current teacher shortage, with the figure potentially reaching 30% under favorable conditions.

Duc emphasized that the initiative is intended not only to increase teacher numbers but also to improve the overall quality of education by enabling stronger teachers to be deployed to schools where teaching standards remain lower.

Thanh Hung