School struggles to invite guest lecturer contracts to have enough lessons
Ho Chi Minh City has basically completed the first round of teacher recruitment for the 2025 - 2026 school year. However, according to initial results, many difficult subjects such as Music, Fine Arts, History - Geography, Team Head... are still in a state of lack of teachers in many schools.
At Hoang Hoa Tham Secondary School (Tan Binh Ward), Mr. Nguyen Xuan Dac - Principal - said that the shortage of teachers at the school is not a new problem that has lasted for many years, mainly focusing on the subjects of Music, Fine Arts and History - Geography.
"This school year, the school registered to recruit 4 students for the three subjects mentioned above.However, there are only two candidates and up to now, only one Art teacher has come to take up the position.Other positions do not have candidates registered for admission or have contestants but do not go to school" - Mr. Dac said.
At Ha Huy Tap Secondary School (Gia Dinh Ward), Ms. Hua Thi Diem Tram - Principal - said that the school is under great pressure in terms of staff and personnel.
"Class 8 and 9 currently have nearly 50 students/class. Recently, the school has been lacking teachers of History - Geography and Fine Arts.
At Nguyen Du Secondary School (Ben Thanh Ward), this year's teacher recruitment season is considered quite successful when recruiting 4 teachers, including a Math teacher, two History - Geography teachers and a Fine Arts teacher.
However, according to Mr. Cao Duc Khoa - Principal of Nguyen Du Secondary School, the school still lacks a position as a teacher in charge of the Team - a force that many schools are currently having difficulty recruiting.
According to Mr. Nguyen Xuan Dac, to cope with the shortage of teachers in the above subjects, every year the school must sign guest lecturer contracts, invite outside teachers to teach, and at the same time, increase the number of teaching hours of existing teachers in the above subjects.
Things that make it difficult for schools to recruit
According to the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City, the reason for the shortage of teachers in Music and Fine Arts is that the number of candidates registering for the exam is quite small compared to the demand. In the recent teacher recruitment round, primary school music only had 46 candidates taking the exam, while the demand was 180 people, secondary school needed to recruit 223 people, but only 65 candidates took the exam. Fine Arts, primary school requires 194 teachers, but only 30 candidates take the exam, secondary school requires 235, but only 57 candidates register.
Mr. Dac said that the reason lies in the decrease in pedagogical training sources, especially in the arts and integrated subjects.
"The supply of teachers is very small. Pedagogical schools do not always have graduates in the right major. Even new teachers who have recently returned to school do not come from large pedagogical schools, but from other units and then take additional vocational training" - Mr. Dac said.
Mr. Cao Duc Khoa said that the reality is that a number of students have graduated from pedagogical majors in Music, Fine Arts, English... but do not participate in teaching because their income from doing other jobs is higher.
For the General Head of the Team, the requirements for this major are higher than other majors.
"A teacher working as a Team Manager must meet two types of certificates: pedagogical certificate and Teamwork certificate. This is a force that has to study more than regular subject teachers, but the treatment is not really attractive" - Mr. Khoa said.
