Nguyen Tu Long, deputy director of the Department for Civil Servants and Public Employees under the Ministry of Home Affairs

Pham Thi Minh Hien, a National Assembly’s Deputy, said she has received complaints about the new circulars released by MOET and many people have proposed removing this kind of certificate.

VietNamNet has interviewed Nguyen Tu Long, deputy director of the Department for Civil Servants and Public Employees under MHA, on the requirements for the certificate for professional titles in appointing and ranking teachers in accordance with MOET Circulars No 1, 2, 3 and 4.

As an advisor in management of public employees, please tell us the basis for the requirement on the certificate for professional title when ranking teachers?

It is necessary to clarify that there are always standards for everything. The Law on Public Employees and Decrees, from the Decree 29 in the past to the Decree 115 just amended in 2020, all stipulate that there must be standards for every professional title of public employees, and the responsibility of the Ministry of Home Affairs and specialized ministries is building standards for professional tiles of public employees under their management.

The standards for teachers of different education levels is the duty of MOET. This is stipulated by law and both Decrees 29 and 115 on the recruitment, use and management of public employees.

Once standards for every professional title is set, specialized ministries need to organize training courses to enable teachers to satisfy the requirements, and those who can fulfill the training courses will receive certificates on professional title.

Could you please describe more clearly if the Law on Public Employees sets requirements on certificate for professional title in ranking teachers?

The law says there must be standards for all professional titles and standards for ranks of professional titles are different.

For example, the standards for high school teachers are different from the standards of secondary school and preschool teachers. Meanwhile, there are different ranks of secondary school teachers showing qualifications corresponding to different job positions. And there are different requirements for different ranks.

Those who hold higher ranks are required to implement the work with higher complexity.

According to a MOET leader, the regulation that teachers have to have certificates for attending refresher courses in accordance with the standards for professional titles stipulated in inter-ministerial (MOET and MHA) Circulars No 20, 21, 22 and 23/2015 and MOET Circulars No 1, 2, 3 and 4 which replaced the inter-ministerial circulars are implemented in accordance with the 2010 Law on Public Employees and the government’s Decree 101.

These are the standards for every title and every rank of title. It is another story about what to do to satisfy the standards.

For example, in order to work as a teacher, one need to graduate from education universities. Those who don’t graduate form education universities but still want to become teachers need to be trained in pedagogical skills, and obtain certificates on fulfilling refresher courses.

So, what are the differences between the certificate on fulfilling refresher courses and the certificate for professional title? And is the certificate for professional title really necessary in ranking teachers?

Secondary school teacher is a professional title. And there are different ranks of the title of secondary school teacher – first-class secondary school teacher, second-class and third-class secondary school teacher.

The certificate for professional title is built based on the standards for every rank of professional title. Meanwhile, the standards are built based on the tasks and requirements of job positions and show the capability corresponding to job positions.

New graduates can work immediately if they meet all standards, but still cannot be recognized as second- or first-class teachers because they don't have enough experience and necessary skills like teachers who have been working for five to seven years.

So, certificates for professional title reflects the qualification, capability and experience of public employees, while certificates for refresher courses are a kind of supplemental certificate serving professional activities.

Please don’t think that it is not good to require certificates. Certificates serve state management and they are not ‘faulty’.

The problem now is the requirement of too many certificates with overlapping content, which is the reason behind teachers’ complaints.

Many people have proposed removing the requirement on certificate for professional title of teacher. What do you think about this?

It is necessary to collect opinions from those covered by regulations. As a professional management body, MOET needs to show its official view on whether to remove the regulation.

Thu Hang

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