Vietnam short of nearly 120,000 teachers, PM orders urgent hiring

Vietnam is facing a shortage of nearly 120,000 teachers across all levels, including around 45,000 kindergarten educators, the education ministry said, prompting the prime minister to demand urgent recruitment measures.

Of 66,000 approved public teaching positions over the past three years, local authorities have filled fewer than 6,000, according to the Ministry of Education and Training

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh this month ordered the education ministry and the Ministry of Home Affairs to oversee and accelerate teacher hiring, ensure the full use of allocated staff quotas, and propose additional hiring where needed.

The move aims to support the implementation of a new policy requiring full-day classes at elementary and middle schools from the 2025-26 school year.

The teacher shortage has persisted for years, but it has worsened since the rollout of the 2018 national curriculum, which made subjects such as English, arts, and IT mandatory from earlier grade levels.

The education ministry said middle schools face the most acute shortages.

Many mountainous and remote areas struggle to recruit teachers due to low wages, poor living conditions, and a lack of qualified candidates.

In mountainous Ha Giang Province, Meo Vac District currently has just five elementary-level English teachers for 8,400 students, up from one teacher for 2,500 students three years ago.

Local officials say teacher recruitment efforts have relied heavily on private projects and volunteers.

Bui Quang Tri, director of Ha Giang's education department, said the province remains short of nearly 3,000 teachers.

"We have no local talent pool," he said.

"Difficult conditions and unattractive pay discourage applicants, and admission scores for teacher training colleges are too high for students from disadvantaged regions."

In some cases, government-sponsored trainees have failed job entry exams intentionally to avoid repayment of study subsidies, he added.

Nationally, about 60,000 approved teaching posts remain unfilled.

Education officials blame a limited supply of qualified candidates and inconsistent hiring practices.

Some provinces have withheld hiring to meet civil service downsizing targets or due to school restructuring.

"Some places have the budgeted positions but do not hire," said Vu Minh Duc, head of the education ministry's teacher management department.

"Others cannot find qualified applicants."

Lawmakers have called for reforms including improved pay, housing support in remote areas, and state-funded teacher training with guaranteed job placement.

Some have proposed deploying teachers across multiple schools in under-resourced areas.

In Ho Chi Minh City, local authorities plan to decentralize hiring to individual schools, prioritize top graduates, and work with universities to train teachers in high-demand subjects such as music, English, and IT.

In the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak, authorities are rushing to recruit 1,297 teachers before July 1 to meet rising demand.

The province has more than 505,000 students and lacks about 1,200 teachers.

Meanwhile, the Mekong Delta province of Long An is preparing for the rollout of free full-day schooling next year but it says staff and facilities remain inadequate.

"We're ready to implement the policy," said Phan Thi Da Thao, deputy head of Long An's education department.

"But we need clear guidance and more resources."

Tuoi Tre News

(2025/05/29-17:55)