Part 2: The Teacher Gap and Infrastructure Investment
Among the limitations and shortcomings caused by various objective factors as mentioned (in Article 1 of this special topic - PV), the shortage of vocational teachers or inadequate facilities to meet teaching and learning needs is a reality in vocational training institutions in Nghe An province in particular.
Thanh Nga My HaAugust 26, 2024
The Nghi Loc District Economic and Technical College was once expected to be a vocational education institution at the gateway to Vinh City, offering courses that would meet the needs of students and workers in the area and surrounding regions. At times, the school attracted 400-500 students in courses such as sewing, welding, electrical engineering, refrigeration, and mechanics.
However, in recent years, student recruitment has faced many difficulties, partly due to the reluctance of many parents and students to pursue vocational training, and partly due to the school's limited teaching facilities. Sharing his concerns, Mr. Luong Anh Tuan, Principal of Nghi Loc District Economic and Technical College, lamented: "Our school has one sewing class, one electrical class, one refrigeration class, and one welding class – all professions requiring adequate facilities to meet the teaching and learning needs of both teachers and students. However, currently, only the sewing class meets the required facilities per student, meaning one sewing machine per student, with a spacious and well-ventilated classroom, and industrial sewing machines meeting international standards. Meanwhile, the welding and electrical classes are still using outdated facilities and lack high-quality welding machines that meet international standards."
Sharing his thoughts on this, teacher Luong Anh Tuan added: "Nowadays, when we go for career guidance to attract students, they all ask questions like, 'If I study at your school, will I be able to work abroad? What's the salary? What kind of jobs can I get?' This shows that vocational training today should not only focus on the domestic market but also reach out to the world, paying attention to the quality of skills upon graduation. Students need to be equipped with skills that meet international standards. We also want to invest in facilities and teaching equipment, but the budget allocated over the past few years has been very limited, insufficient for new purchases."
Vinh City College of Economics and Technology is also one of the schools that is active in student recruitment. However, in recent years, attracting students has become increasingly difficult, and in the last two years, the number of students enrolled each year has only been around 300 (the lowest in recent years).
To address this shortcoming, the school has recently encouraged teachers to write innovative experience reports on upgrading and improving vocational training equipment, such as adding smart features for electrical and electronics training; renovating old equipment into smart clothes drying racks, and these devices have won high awards in provincial-level vocational training equipment competitions. However, it is still too early to say that the school has met the demand for high-quality skills. Most recently, three years ago, the school received funding to purchase a glass pressing machine and a sewing machine. Since then, the school has not been allowed to propose any further purchases or upgrades to its facilities, according to Mr. Nguyen Huy Luong, Deputy Principal of Vinh Economic and Technical College.
Recent inspections and monitoring by the Nghe An Provincial People's Council have revealed that, in recent years, investment in vocational education and the provision of facilities and training equipment have been scattered, inconsistent, and irrational. High-quality vocational education institutions, those training in key professions, and specialized schools for ethnic minority and mountainous workers in the province have not received adequate investment.
Furthermore, investment in vocational education facilities has focused on constructing classrooms but has not adequately prioritized the investment in teaching equipment. Some projects have dragged on for many years, resulting in the deterioration and damage of facilities before they are even handed over for use, leading to wasted investment. A prime example is the North Nghe An Economic and Technical College, which has received investment for over 10 years, totaling nearly 100 billion VND, but has yet to be put into operation.
Furthermore, the facilities and teaching equipment of most vocational education institutions are still inadequate. There is a shortage of practical classrooms, workshops, and vocational training equipment, and many pieces of equipment are outdated and old, failing to keep pace with the development of science and technology and meet the demands of practice. Specifically, the Western Economic and Technical College has a five-story theoretical learning building that is not being used to its full capacity, while it lacks practical workshops.
For example, Vinh Economic and Technical College, during the period 2015-2020, received 5.9 billion VND in investment support for infrastructure construction and equipment procurement; of which, 5.2 billion VND was for infrastructure construction, but only 700 million VND was invested in equipment procurement, and this only covered equipment for a few low-cost vocational courses such as mobile phone repair, computer science, and electronics.
The shortage of vocational teachers is also a major problem for vocational schools today, significantly impacting their training programs. At the Nghe An Ethnic Boarding Vocational School, Principal Le Anh Tuan stated: “Each year, our school trains 700-900 students at the intermediate and basic vocational levels. However, we currently only have 30 teachers, including 18 on the payroll and 12 on contract, leaving us short 40 teachers compared to actual needs.”
Teacher Le Anh Tuan added: The shortage of teachers is mainly concentrated in currently "hot" professions such as fashion design, welding, veterinary medicine, and electrical engineering. Meanwhile, recruiting or contracting teachers in remote areas like Con Cuong district is very difficult. A few years ago, two teachers on contract at the school took students for internships at a company in Bac Ninh province, and after the internship ended, both teachers resigned because the local company offered them jobs with salaries 3-4 times higher than what they received at the school. The school tried hard to persuade them and offered several incentives, but these teachers still left. In reality, this is understandable because the income at vocational schools is still low, while the school has not yet received approval for long-term contract teacher positions.
Regarding the teacher shortage, Mr. Tran Trung Thuan, Vice Principal in charge of administration at Yen Thanh District Technical College, shared the story of Mr. Tran Van Tho (a mechanical engineer) who has been working under contract for over 10 years but has not yet been officially employed. Notably, with over 700 students currently enrolled, the school requires 35 teachers to adequately teach classes, but currently only has 16 on the payroll. Nearly 20 remaining teachers are either contract lecturers or have been under contract for many years without the opportunity for official employment.
Mr. Tran Trung Thuan – Vice Principal in charge of operations at Yen Thanh District Technical College, said: "I understand the feelings of contract teachers very well, because their income and benefits are more disadvantaged than those of tenured teachers. Contract teachers have many opportunities to work for businesses with high and stable incomes, but partly because they have been with the job for a long time, and partly because of family circumstances, they stay. As for young teachers, it's difficult to attract them. This year, our school has 4 students who just achieved excellent student status at the provincial level. The school encouraged them to stay for training and development to become teachers, but no one was interested because the income at our school is only a few million dong. Meanwhile, fresh graduates are offered 9-10 million dong/month. Last year, our school was supplemented with one tenured teacher from the Tourism sector from Vinh. However, after only 1-2 days at the school, they requested a transfer because our school is far from the city center." "The income of newly graduated teachers is not sufficient to ensure they can work far from home with peace of mind."
Regarding the structure of the teaching staff, previously, Decree 143/2016/ND-CP dated October 14, 2016, stipulating the conditions for investment and operation in the field of vocational education, stipulated that vocational education institutions must "ensure a maximum ratio of 25 students/teacher (converted to equivalent teacher) for converted students; for occupations requiring aptitude, ensure a maximum ratio of 15 students/teacher (converted to equivalent teacher) for converted students."
Therefore, based on the 2022 student figures of 65,498, Nghe An province should have more than 2,600 vocational teachers. However, as of June 30, 2023, the total number of vocational teachers in the entire province was only 2,260 (of which 783 were on the payroll and 1,477 were on contract).
Mr. Hoang Sy Tuyen, Head of the Vocational Training Department of the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, stated: According to surveys conducted by the department, the shortage of teachers in vocational education institutions has been increasing since 2020. While a survey of the need to supplement the teaching staff of public vocational education institutions under provincial management showed a shortage of 207 teachers in mid-2020, by June 30, 2023, this shortage had risen to 340 teachers.
While teacher shortages are widespread, the brain drain of vocational teachers is also a major concern for schools. According to a report by the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, between 2015 and 2020, 170 vocational teachers in the province left to work elsewhere, mostly on contract. Since then, although no new survey data is available, observations at schools indicate that the number of teachers leaving teaching to work elsewhere continues to occur annually.
Besides the shortage in numbers, the province's vocational teaching staff currently fails to meet requirements, especially in vocational skills. Only 1,191 out of 2,260 teachers in the province meet the required vocational skills standards, representing a rate of 52.7%. Furthermore, despite having four vocational schools in the province being developed into high-quality vocational education institutions (Vietnam-Korea Industrial Technical College, Vietnam-Germany Technical Vocational College, Trade and Tourism Vocational College, and Vocational College No. 4), the entire province has fewer than 300 teachers who meet the Level 3/5 standard.
Furthermore, only 2,225 out of 2,260 teachers possess teaching certificates, meaning there are still 35 teachers without teaching certificates who are still teaching. On the other hand, through discussions, leaders of several vocational colleges in the province stated that the current trend in vocational training is towards meeting ASEAN and international standards. Therefore, requiring vocational teachers to be proficient in foreign languages is extremely necessary. However, the majority of vocational teachers in the locality currently lack sufficient foreign language skills to communicate, conduct independent research, or teach vocational skills in English.
(To be continued)
