Solving the "problem" of teacher shortage

When Quang Nam province (old) was still in existence, the issue of teacher shortage was brought up many times in the agendas of the Provincial Party Committee and Provincial People's Council but there was no solution. Therefore, this "difficult problem" needs to be studied by the Department of Education and Training of Da Nang city, and soon advised to the city to have a fundamental solution in the coming time.

The Department of Education and Training of Quang Nam province (old) awarded recruitment decisions and assigned work to teachers admitted in 2023. Photo: Xuan Phu

The problem of teacher shortage

Before the opening of the new school year 2025 - 2026, the People's Council of Da Nang city issued Resolution 14 (August 12, 2025) allowing contracts for 1,764 people to do professional and technical work at public education and training units in the city.

Reason: in the 2025-2026 school year, the number of classes and students in the city continues to increase, while the city's workforce is no longer sufficient to supplement the prescribed standards of the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET). Therefore, to meet the teaching and learning needs in the new school year, the city has decided to contract with such a large number.

According to the report of the People's Committee of Da Nang city, the number of people working in the entire education and training sector assigned for the 2025-2026 school year is 37,325, including 31,745 people at preschool, primary, and secondary levels (managed by communes and wards) and 5,580 people at high school (managed by the Department of Education and Training). Meanwhile, the demand according to the prescribed norm is 39,846 people (34,156 at preschool, primary, and secondary levels and 5,690 at high school), lacking 2,521 people (2,411 at preschool, primary, and secondary levels and 110 at high school).

According to the provisions of Decree 111 (dated December 31, 2022) of the Government, the number of people signing labor contracts accounts for no more than 70% of the difference between the number of assigned workers and the number according to the norms issued by the Ministry of Education and Training, so the city is allowed to contract 1,764 people.

In addition, the number of people working in professional and technical fields at public education and training institutions in the city in the previous school year had their contracts expired. Therefore, according to the provisions of Decree No. 111, localities decide on the number of labor contracts to meet the requirements.

In fact, the lack of staff, mainly teachers, is no longer a new story of the Da Nang Education and Training sector. Before joining the same house, Quang Nam province (old) had to contract 928 people to do professional and technical work in public service units for the 2024-2025 school year, while Da Nang city (old) had 723 people.

This school year, out of a total of 1,764 contract quotas just approved by the City People's Council, public education and training units under the Department of Education and Training (high schools) have 77 quotas, while the number of contracts allocated to communes and wards for management (preschool, primary, and secondary schools) to organize recruitment is 1,687 quotas.

Solution to difficult problem

Many people believe that the solution to the problem of teacher shortage is to organize recruitment, but in reality, the story is not that simple. Previously, in order to promptly supplement the missing staff, Quang Nam province (old) regularly organized an annual exam to recruit education officials.

However, contrary to expectations, most recruitment periods did not meet the target, such as in 2022, less than 50% of the target was met (the target was 1,362 but 638 were recruited). In 2023, some district-level localities were given their own recruitment mechanism but in the end, they still could not recruit.

The reason for the failure to meet the recruitment targets for preschool and primary school teachers and some primary and secondary school subjects is determined to be that the number of applicants each year is lower than the recruitment target, and there are even no applicants for subjects in the new general education program such as Information Technology, English, Music, and Fine Arts.

To solve the teacher shortage, some localities have accepted "fire-fighting" solutions such as contracting teachers who do not meet the required training standards, or inviting some core teachers who have reached retirement age to continue teaching for a while longer...

The shortage and instability of teaching staff, especially in mountainous areas, has been a situation for many years, affecting the implementation of the new general education program and improving the quality of education.

The issue of teacher shortage has been discussed many times in the agendas of the Provincial Party Committee and the People's Council of Quang Nam Province (old). To find a solution to this difficult "problem", according to the opinions of many people who are attached to the mountainous areas, only by building a team of local teachers can we solve the problem fundamentally and long-term.

In addition to organizing recruitment, functional sectors need to survey the number and training sectors suitable to the needs and forecast teacher shortages. From there, select students with good and excellent academic performance at ethnic boarding schools to develop teacher training plans by assigning tasks, placing orders and implementing support policies on tuition fees and living expenses according to Decree No. 116/2020 of the Government.

Believing that there is a lack of mechanisms to attract and retain teachers in mountainous areas, Mr. Thai Viet Tuong, former Director of the Department of Education and Training of Quang Nam province (old) said that in addition to the central government's policies, there should be local policies to attract teachers, especially those who work long-term in mountainous districts.

At the same time, pay attention to the development of education in mountainous areas, especially investing in facilities, school equipment, and improving working conditions for teachers. In addition, research on selecting local people for training in conjunction with policies to support studying, and later recruiting them to work to stabilize the teaching staff in mountainous areas in the long term.

Source: https://baodanang.vn/giai-bai-toan-thieu-giao-vien-3303220.html