General teachers should not hold more than two positions: Notes for practical application

Circular 05/2025 (Circular 05) of the Ministry of Education and Training is considered an important step in improving the working regime for general and pre-university teachers. Effective from April 22, 2025, replacing Circular 28/2009, Circular 05 stipulates that each teacher cannot hold more than 2 concurrent tasks, including professional work, Party and union positions and other tasks.

The right move

Expressing her agreement with the above content, Ms. Dao Thi Luyen - teacher at Van Duc Primary School (Gia Lam, Hanoi) said that if a teacher takes on many jobs at the same time, she will be "stuck" with time, affecting the work efficiency in each position she holds. She herself is both a homeroom teacher, head of the professional group, President of the Trade Union and a member of the school's Party Committee, so she has a lot of work to do and tries her best to complete it on schedule.

“Regarding the regime, whether you hold one or three positions, you still only receive the reduced teaching hours for one position. Sometimes you feel disadvantaged because you have to do many jobs at the same time but only receive the highest benefits, doing other jobs without receiving additional benefits,” Ms. Luyen confided.

Evaluating Circular 05/2025 of the Ministry of Education and Training, Ms. Tran Thi Thanh Thao - Vice Principal of Thien Tan Secondary School (Vinh Cu, Dong Nai) said that this is the right step, showing the understanding of the hardships of teachers when having to take on two or more tasks by the industry leaders. In addition to being easily overloaded with work, teachers performing their tasks will have a mentality of doing things carelessly, leading to poor quality assurance.

“In addition, Circular 05 provides more detailed regulations on working hours and annual leave for teachers, including principals and vice principals. This is information that many teachers in schools are interested in. In general, we support the policy of this Circular,” Ms. Tran Thi Thanh Thao said.

As a teacher at An Cuu Primary School (Hue City), according to Ms. Le Thi Phuong Chau, the regulation that general teachers should not hold more than two jobs at the same time helps teachers focus on teaching and improve the quality of education for students. If you hold too many jobs, it will be tiring and affect your professional activities.

Notes on practical application

In terms of solutions for implementation, Ms. Dao Thi Luyen - a teacher at Van Duc Primary School hopes that when assigning part-time teachers, the principal will give priority to teachers who do not have enough average teaching hours per week and ensure that the teacher meets the requirements to perform the assigned tasks. Then the work will be shared equally among everyone.

“Although I am assigned many tasks, although they are a bit more difficult and disadvantageous, I always try to complete each job position I am in charge of well. Partly it is the responsibility when being assigned by the leader, but more importantly, I get to cultivate and learn many useful things. I always try my best not to disappoint the trust of my superiors as well as the trust of my colleagues,” said Ms. Luyen.

Teaching at Chi Minh Secondary School (Chi Linh, Hai Duong), Ms. Nguyen Thi Nguyet realized that not having to take on too many tasks helps teachers have more time to care for students, especially those with poor academic performance. At the same time, ensuring fairness and transparency in the assignment of tasks, avoiding the situation where teachers are overloaded due to having to shoulder too many non-professional tasks.

For this regulation to come into effect, there needs to be close coordination between education management levels and schools. Schools must review and re-evaluate the current situation of teachers holding multiple positions, thereby having a reasonable plan to assign tasks, ensuring that they do not exceed the regulations. At the same time, create a mechanism to support and encourage teachers, especially those in disadvantaged areas, so that they can work with peace of mind and develop their full potential.

From a practical perspective, Associate Professor, Dr. Dang Thi Thanh Huyen - former Director of the Institute of Educational Management Research (Academy of Educational Management) emphasized the importance of Circular 05/2025 in helping teachers focus on professional work.

The expert analyzed: The Ministry of Education and Training issued Circular 05/2025 detailing the working hours of general education teachers as well as clearly stating that this group of teachers cannot hold more than 2 concurrent tasks, which is necessary and reasonable. Each school, when assigning teachers to take on any additional tasks outside of their expertise, must clearly quantify the amount of extra working time. If the time exceeds 40 hours/week, it will violate the Labor Code. The Ministry of Education and Training needs to specify the number of hours if teachers have to hold other tasks.

“When we went to local facilities, we saw that teachers were very thoughtful and wanted to focus on doing their professional work well, not doing other administrative tasks. If teachers hold too many concurrent positions, they will be under psychological pressure, leading to ineffective work. School leaders need to consider assigning concurrent positions to the right people, but must ensure that teachers are not overloaded,” Associate Professor, Dr. Dang Thi Thanh Huyen proposed a solution.