The whole country is entering the peak period of implementing school arrangement, with the goal of completing it before August 30. In an interview with Lao Dong Newspaper, Dr. Chu Manh Hung - Member of the 16th National Assembly, Standing Committee member of the National Assembly's Committee for Culture and Society - said that this process must aim to improve the quality of education, while ensuring the rights of teachers and creating social consensus.
He assessed, what opportunities and challenges will the arrangement of the school system, especially general schools, bring?
- The policy of arranging the school system is implemented in the context of the country entering a new stage of development, requiring education and training to meet higher requirements. The arrangement is not only suitable for the two-level local government model but also creates opportunities to build a more synchronous, streamlined and effective education management system. More importantly, this is an opportunity to continue innovating education governance, thereby improving the quality of education and training.
This policy is implemented synchronously nationwide but does not mean a template for all localities and localities. On the other hand, we are currently strongly decentralizing to localities, so each locality will develop appropriate and feasible arrangement plans. The requirement is to streamline the focal points of schools to improve efficiency in management, strengthen the teaching staff and develop the quality of education in the area. In particular, it is necessary to minimize the psychological and social impact and ensure the quality of education.
Besides the opportunities, this arrangement process also poses many challenges. First of all, the psychological factor because each change creates certain disruptions for parents, students and especially the teaching staff. Material facilities between localities, even between schools in the same commune or between school sites, are still not really synchronized.
However, these are inevitable difficulties in the renovation process. With the drastic direction of the Government, the implementation of localities and the companionship of society and parents, I believe that the immediate challenges will be gradually overcome to aim for a long-term goal of improving the quality of education and training, serving socio-economic development and the country.
The Government requests to complete the arrangement before August 30, 2026 - right before the opening of the new school year 2026 - 2027. What should be noted in the implementation process to ensure stability for the psychology of students, teachers and the whole society, sir?
- In order for school arrangement to be effective and create consensus, in my opinion, localities need to pay attention to a number of issues.
First of all, it is necessary to develop a suitable and feasible arrangement plan. The construction process needs to consult relevant parties, and at the same time publicize the plan to create transparency. Local authorities and management agencies need to direct implementation with a spirit of impartiality and objectivity.
Along with that, it is necessary to do a good job of propaganda and dissemination to create consensus among parents, students, teachers and the whole society. Ideological work is a very important factor in the implementation process, and at the same time, it is necessary to promote the accompanying role of the Parent Representative Board.
Localities need to increase investment in schools when entering the new school year, especially during the opening ceremony; fully implement regimes and policies for teachers, especially those who have to change jobs or work areas.
In addition, it is necessary to enhance the role of principals in educational institutions after arrangement, and at the same time, promote digital transformation in educational institutions to meet the requirements of the new organizational model.
The new policy aims to reduce education management staff and increase direct teaching staff. The transfer of work after arrangement is causing many teachers to worry. According to you, what needs to be done to ensure the rights and stabilize the psychology of this team?
- It is understandable that teachers have thoughts when arranging. Some people have to move to a work area further away, and some people who are doing management work will return to teaching.
However, these are all capable and experienced teachers. Therefore, there needs to be appropriate regimes, policies and conditions for them to continue to develop their abilities. Currently, the education sector is still short of teachers, so I am not too worried about the issue of teachers' jobs. The important thing is to create conditions for this team to develop their abilities well, serving teaching and learning activities.
In addition to the teaching staff, in general schools, there are also staff arranged according to job positions. When arranging schools, there may be surplus in some positions. In these cases, it is necessary to fully calculate regimes and policies if they have to be arranged for a new job. For those who continue to work in schools and meet job position requirements, it is possible to study a plan to arrange shared work so that they can continue to develop their abilities and serve teaching and learning activities.
What do you expect to change after this school arrangement?
- The goal of the arrangement is not simply to streamline management focal points. The important thing is to shift resources from management to strengthening the teaching staff, because we are still short of teachers.
The characteristic of the education sector is that management officials all grew up from teachers. When they no longer do management work, they can still continue teaching. Therefore, the arrangement is aimed at improving the quality of education, not mechanical cuts.
After completing the arrangement, in my opinion, it is necessary to organize a preliminary review to assess the achieved results as well as the remaining issues. On that basis, the Government will make appropriate adjustments if necessary. This is a necessary approach for any guidelines or policies in the implementation process.
Thank you very much, sir!
