Nghe An: Over 1,000 teachers in surplus before the new school year.

For the 2018-2019 school year, according to the approved plan, schools in Nghe An province must reduce the number of classes by 180 compared to the previous school year.

Adding 203 classes that need to be reduced compared to the 2017-2018 school year will result in a large number of teachers becoming redundant; an estimated hundreds of teachers.

Students of Tien Thiet Secondary School (Nghi Loc). Photo: MH

Reducing the number of classes is also a reason why solving the surplus teacher problem in Nghe An province is becoming even more difficult. Therefore, although in recent years the province has had a policy of transferring secondary school teachers to teach at the preschool level, providing retraining or professional development to switch subjects, and reassigning them to suitable work tasks, the surplus remains.

Currently, according to the summary, the entire province still has 1,089 surplus teachers, mainly at the secondary school level, primarily in Literature and Mathematics. The locality with the highest number of surplus teachers is Dien Chau with 219 teachers (accounting for 21.6% of the total allocated quota for the entire district). Following Dien Chau are Yen Thanh with 165 teachers (15.83%), Thanh Chuong with 132 teachers (14.23%), Do Luong with 89 teachers, and Anh Son with 69 teachers. The remaining surplus teachers are concentrated in localities such as Nam Dan, Hung Nguyen, Cua Lo, Tan Ky, Hung Loc, etc.

In particular, some mountainous districts, which previously had a sufficient number of teachers, now have a surplus, such as Ky Son (34 teachers), Que Phong (19 teachers), Con Cuong (9 teachers), Tuong Duong (6 teachers), and Nghia Dan (31 teachers).

Specifically, three units – Vinh City and the two districts of Quy Hop and Quy Chau – no longer have a surplus of teachers.

The entire province currently has 370 contract teachers under district-level contracts; many of these teachers have worked for many years but are still accepting basic salaries without salary increases for many years, and their insurance contributions are very low, the lowest according to the regulations of the Social Insurance agency. The locality with the most contract teachers is Do Luong district with 89 people.

Many classrooms in Vinh City are overcrowded beyond their capacity. Photo: MH

Due to the requirement to reduce class sizes, most schools have had to consolidate classes and increase student numbers compared to previous years. This has created a paradox: many schools have excess classrooms and teachers, yet class sizes have increased. This also poses a challenge for schools in arranging and organizing classes for the new school year, as most of the previously built classrooms are small and do not have enough space for desks and chairs.

From the teachers' perspective, due to insufficient teaching hours, they have to take on additional responsibilities, teaching multiple subjects. This has led to situations where math and literature teachers are also required to teach art and music. In some localities, teachers have been forced to transfer to preschool or primary school, causing resentment among teachers and schools.