Difficult to solve the problem of surplus and shortage of teachers in Nghe An

On the afternoon of December 10, the Provincial People's Council delegates in the constituencies of Dien Chau and Quynh Luu districts held a discussion session. Attending were Ms. Cao Thi Hien - Member of the Provincial Party Committee Standing Committee, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Council; Mr. Le Duc Cuong - Member of the Standing Committee, Head of the Provincial Party Committee's Internal Affairs Committee. Mr. Nguyen Nhu Khoi - Director of Nghe An Radio and Television Station chaired the discussion session. Photo: Thu Giang

Need to rectify the "leveling" way of funding education

Many delegates of the Provincial People's Council in Group 7 reflected that, during the process of contacting voters in localities, they noted the reality that in some places, the old way of campaigning for educational funding still exists, "leveling" and forcing teachers at parent meetings to ask parents to contribute.

Delegates expressed their support for the socialization of education, but to eliminate the pressure on teachers before parent meetings, or the worry of not meeting the "quota" assigned by the school, delegates said that, in addition to promoting the attraction of resources from philanthropists, it is also necessary to promote the responsibility of parents, to avoid the situation where teachers have to do things that are not their job.

Along with that, delegate To Van Thu (Quynh Luu constituency) also reflected on the Department of Home Affairs' delay in assigning staffing quotas to the Education sector, leading to the fact that the quotas of the previous school year are often used for the following school year, which are not correct and realistic.

Opinions hope that the relevant industry will calculate to assign more timely tasks, contributing to solving the problem of surplus and shortage of teachers, and balancing between fields of study.

Class time of Nghi Loc district preschool students. Illustrative photo: My Ha

Receiving these contents, Mr. Tran The Son - Head of the Preschool Education Department of the Department of Education and Training said that according to the new regulations, the subjects of mobilizing educational sponsorship are not only parents but also individuals, organizations, businesses..., especially in particularly difficult areas.

However, Mr. Son admitted that some places still carry out fundraising in the old way, defining facilities and calling for funding, some places do it in a "leveling" way, setting minimum standards, teachers calling on parents to contribute. "The Department has directed the Department Inspectorate to get involved, inspect simultaneously to promptly make corrections in the coming time," Mr. Son affirmed.

Regarding the problem of teacher shortage, the representative of the Education sector said that this is a common situation for all levels of education, especially at the primary and preschool levels. According to Joint Circular 06/2015/TTLT-BGDĐT-BNV of the Ministry of Education and Training and the Ministry of Home Affairs regulating the list of job positions and the number of employees in public preschools, Nghe An has only arranged an average of 1.78 teachers compared to the prescribed number of a maximum of 2.2 teachers/class for kindergarten classes studying 2 sessions/day and 2.5 teachers/group of children for groups of children.

“There is a surplus of teachers at the junior high school level, while there is a shortage at the preschool and primary levels, but it is impossible to second junior high school teachers to preschool. This is a very difficult problem to solve, especially in the current period of streamlining the payroll,” said Mr. Son, adding that the Department of Education and Training is actively advising, and in the near future may propose to transfer some preschools with a high level of socialization to self-sufficient regular expenses, reserving the budget for more difficult places.

The socio-economic report needs to clarify some contents.

Most of the opinions expressed at the group discussion session expressed excitement about the province's positive socio-economic results in 2019. However, some delegates, such as Mr. Nguyen Tu Phuong - Chairman of the Provincial Labor Federation, said that the report of the Provincial People's Committee should clarify the limitations and shortcomings.

“It is necessary to write more clearly which sectors and fields are stuck, instead of just stating in general terms that "we have taken drastic action but the results are not high", delegate Phuong expressed his opinion, emphasizing that this content will be linked to the assessment and review in sectors and localities, so the more specific the better.

Provincial People's Council delegates discuss in group 7. Photo: Thu Giang

In addition, he also suggested that it is necessary to clarify the causes of the shortcomings and limitations, especially the subjective causes, so that from this content, units and localities can clearly understand what they need to do. In particular, 2019 was chosen as the Year of Administrative Reform, but there are still delegates who are not satisfied with the related content in the overall socio-economic report, which needs to be evaluated more carefully, emphasizing clearer movements.

In addition, opinions at the group discussion session also discussed many issues of supplementing the staffing for the Department of Tourism to ensure the implementation of professional tasks; clarifying the regime and policies for non-professional workers at the grassroots level; restoring the rural power grid, providing electricity to communes without electricity; fighting against drug crimes, firecrackers, etc.

In summary, there were 12 comments from delegates and explanations from relevant sectors clarifying issues of concern to voters that were fully received and presented to the working session tomorrow (December 11) of the Provincial People's Council.