Contract teachers in Nghe An are hoping for priority in recruitment.

Tired of waiting

Since the beginning of this school year, Ms. Dinh Thi Ly, currently teaching Mathematics at Nghi Van Secondary School in Van Kieu commune, has submitted an application for teacher recruitment to the Department of Education and Training and the Department of Interior Affairs.

In her 14 years of service, the number of times Ms. Ly applied for permanent employment was truly rare. This was because, despite being considered a veteran teacher, the Nghi Loc district (formerly) had no permanent positions for secondary school teachers for many years, leaving teachers with no opportunity for recruitment. With a contract salary of only 5 million VND per month, Ms. Ly confided that raising her two children who were of school age was not easy.

Meanwhile, her husband works as a tailor near their home, and his income and job are unstable: "I'm lucky to be a math teacher, and I can register to teach extra classes at a tutoring center. In contrast, other colleagues who are contract teachers but teach subjects like geography and chemistry face much more difficulties because they can't teach extra classes and have no other source of income besides their salary."

At the beginning of this school year, Nghi Van Secondary School was short of 26 teachers across most subjects. Although the principal had submitted a request for additional teachers, the quota allocated for this school year was insufficient. The school had to hire additional teachers on contract, including four who had been with the school for over 10 years, such as Ms. Ly.

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Long-term contract teachers are all competent individuals who have made significant contributions to the school. Therefore, I hope that these teachers will be given priority during the recruitment process so that they have the opportunity to stay with the school for the long term.

Mr. Nguyen Dinh Hai - Principal of Nghi Van Secondary School

In mid-November, 11 teachers and staff members from the former Nam Dan district also submitted applications to the Provincial People's Committee requesting to be considered for permanent employment. These are individuals who had labor contracts signed by the former Nam Dan District People's Committee from 2009 onwards, having been dedicated to their profession for at least 13 years, with some having worked for up to 20 years.

For many years, despite their long-term dedication to the profession, these workers have only received a single salary coefficient, without salary increases or professional allowances. Meanwhile, they have always strived to perform their duties well, achieving many accomplishments in their work, with many receiving awards such as excellent teachers, grassroots-level emulation fighters, and provincial-level commendations.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Man, an employee at Thuong Tan Loc 2 Primary School, said: "At school, I work as an equipment manager, an office worker, and also handle many other tasks. However, my current salary after 16 years of working is only a little over 4.1 million VND. Besides my work at school, I have to do all sorts of other jobs to make ends meet."

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Our wish is for a special recruitment mechanism for all teachers and contract staff working in schools in the area, because we are people with sufficient years of service, solid expertise and professional skills, and some are children of war invalids and wounded soldiers, making us a priority group.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Man - employee of Thuong Tan Loc 2 Primary School

Priority policies are needed.

In Nghe An province, there are currently over 200 teachers and staff working under contract, with each having worked for around 10 years. Over the years, despite their significant contributions, they have faced many disadvantages compared to those on the permanent payroll. They only receive a basic salary, lack teaching allowances and seniority pay, and have limited opportunities for career development. In many years, teachers and staff are only paid for 9 months of actual teaching time. Many localities do not pay salaries for the remaining 3 summer months.

Speaking about contract teachers, Mr. Nguyen Huu Huy, Principal of Thuong Tan Loc 2 Secondary School in Van An commune, expressed his deep sorrow because November is supposed to be a month to honor and appreciate teachers. However, even though the month is almost over, the school still hasn't received salaries to pay two contract teachers: "For a long time, the school has only had two contract teachers in charge of Biology, who have been with the school for over 15 years and both have a long history of teaching achievements, having received Certificates of Commendation from the Provincial People's Committee. Previously, the State Treasury paid the salaries for these teachers. However, according to Decision No. 3235/QD-UBND, regarding the allocation of civil servant positions with salaries from the budget to educational institutions under the People's Committees of communes and wards in 2025, the school is only allocated 22 positions. Therefore, the remaining two contract teachers are temporarily no longer receiving budget allocations to pay their salaries."

Based on the above situation, Mr. Huy added: "With the current allocated staffing quota, the school's teacher-to-class ratio is only 1.63 teachers per class, lower than the provincial regulation of 1.74 teachers per class. Therefore, we hope to have the quota supplemented soon to have enough teachers as required. On the school's part, we will submit a proposal to the Van An commune government this week to request a mechanism to support the school in paying contract salaries to teachers. We cannot allow a situation where a school with over 500 students does not have a Biology teacher."

Similarly, Ms. Nguyen Binh Minh, an education specialist at the Culture and Social Affairs Department of Cua Lo Ward, also expressed concern, as there are currently 16 primary and secondary school teachers and over 20 contract staff members in the area. Over the years, despite the local government's efforts to ensure these teachers and staff receive salaries and benefits similar to those of tenured teachers, they remain insecure due to the lack of official status. Currently, the Department of Education and Training has just announced the recruitment of teachers and staff for the 2025-2026 school year, but only 5 positions have been allocated to the ward. The remaining positions are still vacant and it is unclear when they will be filled.

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We have also repeatedly petitioned the department and the supervisory council to pay attention to contract teachers and staff. In particular, a long-term solution is to increase the number of permanent staff in schools, as schools are currently facing a severe shortage of teachers. Furthermore, a mechanism is needed to ensure that contract teachers receive adequate salaries to maintain their livelihoods.

Nguyen Binh Minh - Department of Culture and Social Affairs, Cua Lo Ward

Regarding the recruitment of teachers and staff for the 2025-2026 school year, this November, the Department of Education and Training announced the recruitment of 829 positions for preschool, primary, and secondary school levels, as well as school staff. This is also the first time the Department of Education and Training has been tasked with recruiting teachers at these levels after the implementation of the two-tiered local government system.

Before recruitment, based on the data...staffingThe provincial government directly assigned the recruitment to the schools, and the department also requested the schools to review, compile statistics, and make proposals. Therefore, this year's recruitment is considered realistic and aligns with the schools' teacher needs. However, compared to the number of teachers currently lacking, the number of allocated positions for recruitment this time only represents a very small percentage. Consequently, the chances of being recruited are limited, and opportunities for contract teachers are also very scarce unless there is a preferential mechanism.

In fact, this year's recruitment plan of the Department of Education and Training, besides some preferential categories such as: Heroes of the Armed Forces, wounded soldiers, ethnic minorities, retired officers, children of martyrs, those who have completed military service, police officers, youth volunteers, trade union officials who have risen through the ranks from the grassroots level... teachers and contract staff are not included in the group eligible for bonus points.

This worries many contract teachers because, if competition is fair, long-term contract teachers will not have as many advantages as newly graduated teachers. Meanwhile, experience, dedication, responsibility, and years of service are difficult to quantify into specific points for fair competition.