Most preschools in HCM City face shortage of teachers
From babysitter to teacher
In the second term of the 2012-2013 school year, many preschools in HCM City have been compelled to recruit babysitters to act as teachers because they are unable to find qualified teachers.
Nguyen Thi Minh Nguyet, Deputy Director of the Education and Training Office of District 3, said their district is still in need of more than ten qualified preschool teachers, and in the meantime they have no choice but to hire babysitters to take those places.
“Normally, each class would have two teachers, but because of the shortage we've had to reduce the number to one per class. This has added to the pressure put on our teachers and the babysitters do not have the experience or training," Nguyet said.
Due to serious teacher shortages, several districts in HCM City have been forced to recruit preschool teachers who have only registered as temporary residents, pending their application as long-term residents of the city.
This school year, preschools in District 10 will need a total of 48 teachers and the recruitment process is only adding to their obstacles in meeting their needs. Several teachers have recently quit, only adding to the shortfall.
This problem is not unique to any one district, even with central District 1 which is short a total of 10 teachers.
Hard to find teachers
Even with the schools' loosening of hiring requirements for teachers, which formerly called for teachers to have a permanent residency card, schools still find recruiting difficult.
“Even though we’ve opened up these positions to non-resident teachers and have extended our recruiting process to all times of the year, it's still hard to find teachers," Nguyet said.
During the 2012-2013 school year, District 2 did the best in terms of teacher employment, with 25 new teachers.
“We’re very lucky. We know the market is very competitive right now. But we have managed to find quite a few new teachers lately," said Nguyen Hong Phuc, from the district’s Education Office said.
Estimates say that HCM City will need 28,000 more preschools teachers by 2015, and the situation may only become harder for schools because of a lack of qualified teachers, he added.
Phan Thi Ngoc Tran, Deputy Head of the Education Office of District 1 said, “The number of students is on the increase, while teachers are harder to come by."
