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Preschools in Vietnam\'s capital city of Hanoi are nearly 3,000 teachers short, said an official of the Municipal Department of Education and Training.
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| Salaries of nursery teachers are still low |
Deputy Director Pham Thi Hong Nga revealed the information at a meeting on the issue in Hanoi on December 30, when she stressed the city was in desperate need of an additional 247 administrators and 2,898 teachers.
According to Nga, Hanoi now has 833 nursery schools, including 667 state-owned facilities and 166 private educational centres. These institutions house a combined 11,589 classes, with 339,230 students and only 19,544 teachers.
Dam Quoc Khanh, vice chairman of Hoang Mai district said, “The teacher shortage in preschool education is a pressing issue in the district. We have made efforts to recruit, advertising in 10 newspapers, but have still failed to employ additional staff. Most high-quality schools are lacking teachers.”
Many teachers choose to work for private schools in stead of state-owned ones because they are in search of higher pay, he explained.
An official from Quoc Oai, an outlying district, agreed with Khanh, “We have found it hard to recruit administrators for nursery schools. The Municipal Departments of Education and Training and of Internal Affairs should boost personnel to manage this kind of problem at schools from the district level.”
Mr. Hau, vice chairman of My Duc district, also on the outskirts of Hanoi, said many teachers of nursery schools have quit their jobs to work in other fields due to low teaching salaries.
The outlying district of Thach That is facing a shortage of 20 administrators for preschool education, but has failed to recruit, as the city lacks plans for new employment.
Nga said a total of 86 principals and deputy principals have been appointed but have yet to be hired as regular staff.
She added that many teachers in districts including Chuong My, Hoai Duc and My Duc are contracted but have not yet been recognised as regular members of the personnel. They are receiving only VND250,000 (USD12.5) per month, with no additional help from government allowances.
To ease the situation, Ngo Thanh Hang, vice chairman of Hanoi said the city has approved a plan to financially assist 26,000 teachers in preschool education. They would receive extra benefits from the state starting in 2011. The city will also employ an additional 4,900 teachers as regular staff during the year.
She urged that the Department of internal Affairs submit a new district personnel plan to the municipal government for approval by January 10, 2011. Under the plan, the city should set recruitment targets at 5,000 new teachers and 26,000 new contracted teachers for the preschool level.
Hanoi will hold a contest to select new state officials for preschool education in July. The results will be announced in August to ensure sufficient staff for the new school year starting in September, she added.
