Good teachers transferred to the lowlands - a big concern for education in the mountainous areas of Nghe An

According to the Department of Education and Training of Ky Son district, this school year, the whole district has about 20 teachers working in schools who have applied to transfer to teach in the lowlands. This causes great difficulties for schools in the process of organizing teaching and learning, especially when the teachers who transfer schools are all excellent teachers of the province, the district and are key teachers of the schools.

Students and teachers of Mai Son Primary School (Tuong Duong). Photo: My Ha

Last school year, at the year-end conference, the former Chairman of the People's Committee of Ky Son district said: Ky Son no longer has good teachers in the province because all good teachers have moved to the lowlands.

This year, Mr. Phan Van Thiet - Head of the Department of Education and Training of Ky Son district added: Not only the province's excellent teachers but also the district's excellent teachers have lost more than half. Notably, this year, a teacher who has been an excellent teacher for many years and has just been recognized by the Department of Education has also transferred schools.

In Tuong Duong district, according to the synthesis of the district's Department of Education and Training, from August 2019 to present, there have been 20 teachers transferred to other jobs in the district, of which the oldest person was born in 1977 and has been the Vice Principal of Luong Minh Primary School.

Many teachers at Nam Can Primary School (Ky Son) have to leave their children with their grandparents when they go to work in the highlands. Photo: My Ha

In addition, there are 2 other people who have also become school leaders, one is the Principal of Tam Thai Primary School. 1/3 of the transferred teachers asked to transfer to Vinh. Because there are too many teachers asking to transfer, the district is currently temporarily not agreeing to let English teachers transfer because the district is lacking too many English teachers. However, 2 teachers have asked to quit their jobs to transfer to Nam Dan and Thanh Chuong.

In recent times, many lowland districts have recruited cultural teachers and English teachers, causing many teachers in the district to request job transfers. This is the need of each individual, but too many teacher transfers will cause the district’s education system to “break down” and the quality of teachers in the mountainous areas will decrease.

Mr. Lo Thanh Nhat - Vice Chairman of Tuong Duong District People's Committee spoke at the 2019 - 2020 school year summary conference.

This reality has also been reflected in manyProvincial People's Council meetingBut how to solve it is a matter that needs to be considered, because transfer is the right of each teacher and is not against the regulations.

Discussing further on this issue, Mr. Thai Van Thanh - Director of the Department of Education and Training suggested that in the coming school year, if localities recruit teachers from lowland districts, they need to have written consent from the local unit before recruiting to avoid causing difficulties for both the locality and the teachers.

The transfer of too many good teachers has greatly affected education in mountainous districts. Photo: My Ha

Previously, for many years now, in the mountainous districts of Nghe An, the number of teachers who came from the lowlands to work was quite large, many of whom were married couples. Due to difficult working conditions, most of them"local" teacherAll teachers have to send their children to their grandparents in the lowlands, so transferring them back to their hometown to work is a legitimate wish of teachers to stabilize their lives.

The current problem is that although many teachers are transferred, for many years now, mountainous districts have had few new recruits, thus causing a "gap" in schools, both in quantity and quality.

This situation may continue to occur in the coming school year when the demand for teachers, especially primary school teachers and English teachers in lowland districts is very lacking. Even many localities have recruitment targets but cannot recruit enough teachers (like Quynh Luu district). This is an opportunity for teachers from the highlands to return to the lowlands, especially when they are all experienced teachers and have been recognized as excellent teachers by the district and the province.