Ensuring the rights of transferred teachers in Xiangyang

When rights are affected

Up to this point, teacher Lo Van Xuan has been teaching at Huu Khuong Primary School for more than a month. The new school is nearly 2 hours away from home by motorbike and has to go through many "high passes and steep mountains", so he can only go home once a week. At the age of 52, teacher Xuan has also started to return to the life of a single teacher, using the school as his home and the classroom as his sleeping place... Before that, teacher Lo Van Xuan had worked for more than 20 years in Mai Son commune - a border commune close to Laos. At that time, Mai Son was also the most difficult area of ​​the district.Xiangyangand the number of people staying at the school is mainly only native people.

Students at Huu Khuong Primary School. Photo: MH

As a long-time teacher in the remote area and now over 50 years old, almost the "oldest in the school", Mr. Xuan was quite surprised when this school year he received a decision to transfer to Huu Khuong Primary School - one of the most difficult schools in Tuong Duong district at present.

Telling more about this, the teacher said: The transfer was based on the voting results of the whole school. However, I still do not feel satisfied because I am one of the oldest teachers, with many years of dedication to Mai Son - from the difficult days. Now that Mai Son has just opened the traffic, has electricity, and the conditions are less difficult, I have to be transferred to another place with equally difficult conditions, but the policies and regimes are reduced.

New teachers transferred to Huu Khuong Primary School. Photo: MH

Since the beginning of September, Huu Khuong Secondary School for Ethnic Minorities has also received 2 decisions to transfer 2 teachers from Tam Hop Secondary School for Ethnic Minorities to the school and at the same time, 2 other teachers of the school were transferred to a school in Tam Hop.

According to teacher Nguyen Duc Son - Principal of the school: The two teachers transferred were teachers who were reinforced to the school for many years according to the policy and had passed the reinforcement period of 2 to 3 years. Now, after many years of expressing their wishes, the new teachers have been transferred to other schools with more favorable conditions.

As one of the two new teachers transferred to Huu Khuong, teacher Ho Dinh Ky said that he has gotten used to the job and adapted to the new environment. However, when talking about this transfer, he still has his own concerns: I heard the information about the transfer through a colleague and one day later (September 1), I received the decision to transfer from the district to Huu Khuong via Zalo message. At that time, I was very surprised because I had worked at Tam Hop for nearly 20 years, was the oldest in the school and had not committed any violations. The transfer was the decision of the district and I strictly complied. However, before the transfer, I should have been informed by the leader so that I could prepare mentally and arrange my work and family life.

Transfer and arrange teachers from places with surplus to places with shortage

At the beginning of the 2021-2022 school year, the People's Committee of Tuong Duong district decided to transfer 67 teachers in the district at the primary and secondary levels. Of these, 42 were transferred according to their wishes to rationalize family circumstances and 15 were transferred to balance the surplus and shortage of staff. Particularly in Huu Khuong commune, despite extremely difficult conditions, 2 teachers volunteered to write an application to transfer to work in the commune.

The local shortage of teachers has been happening in Tuong Duong district for many years. Photo: MH

In fact, the transfer is still carried out annually by the People's Committee of Tuong Duong district because there is still a local shortage of teachers in the district. Thanks to that, the number ofteacher transferIn recent years, the number of teachers has decreased due to the gradual stabilization of the teaching staff between units and regions (from 104 teachers in 2015, 74 teachers in 2018 to 65 teachers in 2021).

However, in the process of transferring Tuong Duong district, there are also specific difficulties. For example, for many years now, the district has been seriously lacking English teachers. From the 2020-2021 school year, 4 English teachers have applied to transfer to the lowlands, so the district does not have enough teachers.English teacherto arrange for schools. Therefore, this year, some teachers who are teaching in central schools, convenient to transfer to difficult areas, so at first some teachers did not agree.

Geographical conditions and specific mechanisms also have a significant impact on the transfer process. Specifically, Tuong Duong district has 17 communes and towns, including 4 border communes: Tam Hop, Nhon Mai, Mai Son and part of Tam Quang commune (Tan Huong and Tung Huong villages). Because they are adjacent to the border, teachers in these communes, in addition to enjoying the highland regimes, also receive an additional 50% of their salary, which is the State regime for special communes.

Students of Huu Khuong Secondary School for Ethnic Minorities. Photo: MH

In fact, with this special incentive, for many years now, only teachers have been transferred to border communes. The remaining number of teachers from border areas transferred to other areas is very small or very difficult to implement. The transfer was only carried out this school year because Mai Son Primary School merged its satellite schools and the school had 4 extra teachers. In addition, the district had to transfer secondary school teachers from Tam Hop Secondary Boarding School for Ethnic Minorities to solve the problem of additional teachers that has been pending for many years in Huu Khuong commune.

In the process of transferring teachers “to and from” between regions, Huu Khuong is considered a “sensitive point” and has been almost impossible for many years. The main reason is that Huu Khuong is currently the only remaining “oasis” commune in the middle of Ban Ve hydroelectric reservoir, with extremely difficult travel conditions. However, the support policies for teachers here are lower than those in border communes. This is also the reason why, among the 67 teachers transferred this time, apart from a number of cases that have been petitioned and reviewed to suit the reality, the remaining cases mainly focus on cases where teachers have to be transferred to Huu Khuong commune.

According to Notice No. 210/TB-HU Tuong Duong dated August 3, 2021 on personnel work, there are instructions that teachers working in Huu Khuong commune after 3 years of working and completing their tasks well will be transferred to a favorable area. However, the transfer decision of the District People's Committee did not specify the transfer time. Therefore, many teachers feel insecure and worried.

Stabilize and reassure teachers on transfer

Regarding the transfer of teachers, after the People's Committee of Tuong Duong district issued transfer decisions, a number of teachers submitted complaints and recommendations about the implementation process.

Regarding this issue, the People's Committee of Tuong Duong district organized a meeting with transferred teachers to listen to their thoughts and aspirations and review each case. Immediately afterwards, the Standing Committee of the District Party Committee also issued a notice directing the organization to review the work of transferring teachers to comply with the principles, regulations, processes and procedures of the Party and State, ensuring democracy, transparency and compliance with the law, especially in cases where there was no agreement with the collective or individual. During the inspection process, the district also established a working group to visit specific communes such as Huu Khuong and Mai Son to learn and confirm information, processes and procedures to ensure the regulations of the superiors on transferring teachers.

Many schools in Tuong Duong district lack English teachers. Meanwhile, recruitment is facing many difficulties. Photo: MH

Discussing further about this, Mr. Kha Van Lap - Head of the Department of Education and Training of Tuong Duong district said: All cases of teacher transfer are implemented by schools according to the correct procedure, with the opinions of the entire school and criteria for implementation based on the Notice of the Standing Committee of the District Party Committee. For secondary school level, the district transfers on the basis of balancing surplus - shortage between schools... Regarding the fact that some teachers questioned the hasty implementation process, the leader of the Department of Education and Training of Tuong Duong district said: Teacher transfer is a sensitive issue related to the interests of many teachers. Therefore, in the 2021 - 2022 school year, after the notice of the Standing Committee of the District Party Committee, the implementation was carried out quickly to ensure objectivity and minimize negativity.

Regarding the issue of transferring teachers, after receiving feedback and recommendations, the Department of Home Affairs has also established an inspection team and has reached a conclusion. Accordingly, it has affirmed that the work of transferring teachers in Tuong Duong aims to balance the team in terms of quantity and quality according to the education development plan, basically overcoming the local surplus and shortage between schools and at the same time resolving the desire for the number of teachers to be reinforced in Huu Khuong commune. The transfer of surplus teachers in Nhon Mai and Mai Son communes to Huu Khuong communes is appropriate in terms of adjusting the structure, quantity, geographical distance and according to the characteristics of the locality. The implementation process is basically democratic, objective, creating consensus among the majority of individuals being transferred.

However, during the implementation process, the District People's Committee has not yet issued a plan to transfer teachers. In addition, the work of information, meetings, exchanges, and grasping the legitimate aspirations of teachers is not good, so some individuals do not agree.

The transfer will help regulate teachers throughout the district. Photo: MH

Tuong Duong District People's Committee has not yet complied with the provisions of Clause 3, Official Dispatch No. 7602/UBND-VX dated October 26, 2029 of the Provincial People's Committee on the transfer, rotation and secondment of civil servants and public employees in the education and training sector and sent the list to the Department of Home Affairs before the transfer to monitor and direct the implementation.

Immediately after the conclusion of the Department of Home Affairs, the People's Committee of Tuong Duong district also held a meeting to clarify the responsibilities of each individual and is gradually resolving the outstanding issues. In the coming time, the district will also issue a document to re-regulate the transfer time of teachers to ensure compliance with the regulations according to the inspection conclusion and create peace of mind for the teaching staff.

Due to the difficulties in the transfer process, this school year the district wants to innovate the transfer method. The main purpose is to minimize negative effects, to be suitable to the local reality and also to create conditions for teachers who have worked in difficult areas for many years to be closer to their families.

However, due to objective conditions (due to social distancing due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the district focusing on fighting the pandemic in the above areas...), the district did not have time to meet and do ideological work for teachers before transferring them to difficult areas. From the above, it is understandable that some teachers have some complaints. Currently, after the district organized meetings and explanations, teachers have understood, agreed, and are assured of their work, and this is also an experience and lesson for the district to do better in personnel work, especially in transferring and seconding teachers.

Mr. Lo Thanh Nhat - Vice Chairman of Tuong Duong District People's Committee