Lao Dong Newspaper had a conversation with Party Central Committee member, Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son about the Draft Law on Teachers.
Dear Minister, the Draft Law on Teachers continues to propose that “teachers’ salaries are given the highest priority in the administrative career salary scale system”. After 10 years of implementing Resolution 29, this content has not been implemented. Will it be implemented this time, dear Minister?
- Our Party and State always identify "education and training as the top national policy", as a strategic priority. In the past, although there have been changes, we have not basically implemented much in terms of salary policy for teachers, because there are still many difficulties. The number of teachers is large, with over 1 million people receiving salaries from the budget. Although there is a very clear direction, to implement it, it will be necessary to have more appropriate calculations on resources, balancing the State budget that can be paid.
When proposing a salary policy in the draft Law on Teachers, we would like to emphasize that this is necessary and needs to be considered. From a certain perspective, it is also necessary to recognize that in the recent past, although not much has been done, with two adjustments to the basic salary, the lives of teachers have improved a step, bringing teachers a lot of encouragement.
One of the breakthrough points of the draft Law on Teachers is the proposal that “the education sector has a more active role and initiative in recruiting, using and managing teachers”. Can the Minister explain why the draft Law on Teachers makes this proposal?
- The Law on Teachers is an opportunity for us to adjust our viewpoints and thinking in State management of teachers. The Law on Teachers needs to demonstrate innovation and institutional improvement in State management of teachers, shifting the focus from personnel management to human resource management.
The fundamental difference between human resource management and current personnel management is that teachers are seen as a key resource contributing to the success of education. This resource includes professionals in the teaching profession, trained, recruited, employed and treated according to a system of regulations implemented by the education sector.
Shifting the mindset of State management of teachers to a model of human resource management is an urgent requirement, especially in the current period when education is facing the requirements of fundamental and comprehensive innovation.
The Law on Teachers will be a consistent, effective and efficient legal framework for creating and developing the teaching staff. In particular, the subject of State management of teachers is emphasized on the responsibility of the education sector and is specifically decentralized from the ministry to departments, offices and educational institutions. The orientation of law making will increase the professional factor, focusing on the quality factor in both teacher training and recruitment.
I emphasize the professional and quality factors in teacher management because this factor will ensure that the State management factor has innovation in both the public and private sectors. The law will also guide unified and smooth management throughout the system with clear decentralization but ensure recruitment, mobilization, exchange, and use in a smooth and unified manner nationwide.
We hope that the State management of teachers built on such professional and quality factors will lead to tighter and more substantial management, and teachers will feel more comfortable and free in their professional activities and have more conditions to develop themselves and contribute to the profession.
One of the great motivations for teachers to stick with their profession and love their profession is the status and honor of the profession. According to the Minister, what solutions are needed to continue to improve the status of teachers in the current context?
- It must be affirmed that the teaching force always loves their profession and really wants to be shared and recognized by society, to best express themselves, contribute to their profession and have the opportunity to demonstrate their professional responsibility.
In recent times, the Law on Education and the Law on Higher Education have created a very important legal basis for industry management and innovation in the field of education and training. However, as a very special force of civil servants and workers, it is also necessary to have additional legal bases for the recognition, responsibilities, obligations and rights of teachers to be institutionalized.
The reason why the issue of teachers' salaries has not been implemented as expected in the past 10 years is partly due to the lack of legal basis. I hope that the Law on Teachers will solve the problems of legal basis for innovation in teacher management, for affirmations, professional expressions and policies for teachers. This will contribute significantly to affirming and maintaining the position, enhancing the position of teachers in society.
Thank you very much, Minister!
