shortage of personnel in charge of education at the commune level
After the merger, the whole country has more than 3,320 communes and wards, each with a Department of Culture and Society. This is the unit in charge of the field of education, managing kindergartens, primary schools, and secondary schools (formerly district-level schools).
According to regulations, each department has a maximum of two staff in charge of education and training. However, Mr. Pham Tuan Anh - Deputy Director of the Department of Teachers and Educational Managers, Ministry of Education and Training - said that currently, most localities only have one person in charge of education at the commune level, with 2-3 people in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.
Comparing when there was a Department of Education and Training, with at least 30 people managing the number of students, the number of schools could be from a few thousand to a few tens of thousands, Mr. Tuan Anh assessed that the team in charge of education at the commune level was overloaded with work.
Quick statistics from the Ministry of Education and Training on data of about 1,000 people show that in many localities, only about 20-30% of commune-level education workers have expertise or experience working in this field before. The rest come from many departments before the merger such as the Department of Ethnic Minorities and Religions, Justice, Youth Union, Department of Agriculture and Environment, District Inspectorate, Department of Internal Affairs, Red Cross Society...
Many people do not have professional qualifications in pedagogical subjects, even "not related" such as bachelor's in land management, livestock engineers, medicine, construction engineers, bachelor's in food industry, pharmacists... For example, in Hanoi, after the merger, there are 126 communes and wards. The scale and number of people, teachers, and students are large, but the number of civil servants in the Department of Culture and Society in charge of education is 347 people. Of which, the number of people with pedagogical degrees is 212 people.
"The number of people with pedagogical qualifications accounts for only 61%. This is a concern if there is no solution to improve professional qualifications" - Mr. Tran The Cuong - Director of the Hanoi Department of Education and Training - raised the issue.
As the person directly in charge of professional work, Ms. Nguyen Dieu Binh, specialist of the Department of Culture and Society of Lang Ward, Hanoi - agreed with the above view. Although she has a background in education, she feels pressured when she has a background in preschool, and now has to take charge of all 3 levels of education. "For example, I have to advise the ward chairman to implement educational programs for primary, secondary and high schools, this is really a big difficulty" - Ms. Binh said.
Proactively gradually remove difficulties, prepare for the new school year
The Ministry of Education and Training acknowledges that the core problem that needs to be overcome is to ensure the requirements for standardizing the education management team at the commune level, meeting the operational requirements of the two-level model. In the immediate future, the Department of Teachers and Educational Managers proposes that competent authorities allow the mobilization of principals, deputy principals or key teachers to support the Department of Culture and Society. This is also a solution that Hanoi has been applying recently.
"We have mobilized teachers, implemented 45 days of supporting commune-level authorities in digital transformation, improving information technology skills..." - Mr. Tran The Cuong - Director of the Hanoi Department of Education and Training - shared.
The Department of Education and Training maintains the previous framework of the Department of Education and Training to establish clusters, solve problems such as organizing excellent student competitions, and solving problems.
Mr. Cuong set a goal of focusing on teachers to provide additional support to education managers at the commune level in transferring information technology, digital transformation can be by topic, department, professional work...
In Nghe An, Mr. Vo Van Mai - Deputy Director of the Department of Education and Training - said that the unit is consulting on the issuance of documents regulating functions, tasks, decentralization, and delegation of authority in the locality. Currently, the Department of Education and Training has made specific adjustments to ensure the division, without affecting the teaching and learning of schools.
On the side of the Ministry of Education and Training, Central Party Committee member and Minister Nguyen Kim Son affirmed that focusing on supporting the commune level is an urgent requirement at present. The most necessary thing right now is to continue to proactively grasp the situation, listen to the opinions of localities through many different channels.
For specialized units under the Ministry of Education and Training, the minister suggested that the standing department should make adjustments for training sessions, increase local listening, and support the commune level more.
For commune-level education managers, the minister said that it is necessary to keep up with the new thinking, recognizing the role of the commune level must be different first.
