Nghe An: Contract teachers and local authorities are hoping for permanent positions.

Following the news that Nghe An province will have an additional 2,800 staff positions, many have expressed their hopes for stable employment and a sense of security in their work, dedicating themselves to their schools, classes, and students.

1. Ms. Phan Thi Huyen - Biology teacher - Le Thi Bach Cat Secondary School - Cua Lo Town

I graduated from Vinh University in 2011 and have been working at Le Thi Bach Cat Secondary School ever since, for almost 12 years, and I'm still a student.contract teachers.

Compared to tenured teachers, although our duties are the same, we are disadvantaged in many ways, especially in terms of benefits. For example, during the summer, we receive our salaries, but we don't have money for teaching. Contract teachers are also not considered for professional titles to receive new salary grades, and there are other disadvantages in terms of morale, which makes us feel insecure in our work.

Our current wish is for relevant agencies and departments to provide assistance and support policies for contract teachers who have not yet been granted permanent positions. Furthermore, we hope that when vacancies and contracts become available, these agencies and departments will consider granting permanent positions to long-serving contract teachers who have contributed significantly to the education sector, so that we can stabilize our work as soon as possible.

2. Mr. Hoang Duy Hoi - Principal of Le Thi Bach Cat Secondary School - Cua Lo Town.

Le Thi Bach Cat School was established in 2009 and currently has 38 staff members, including 3 teachers and 1 contract employee. They are all long-time employees of the school; the oldest, born in 1977, currently serves as both a Literature teacher and the Head of the Youth Union. Although the town and the school have shown concern and made efforts to pay salaries, increase wages, and provide allowances to ensure the teachers and contract employees feel secure, they still face disadvantages compared to other teachers, such as not receiving payment for teaching during the summer and not being considered for promotion.

Despite facing many disadvantages, over the years, the contract teachers and staff at our school have been very enthusiastic, participating in all tasks assigned by the school, especially in teaching and implementing educational activities. Among them are teachers who are excellent teachers at the provincial and district levels, and teachers who consistently produce many students who excel at the provincial level each year. The school highly values ​​the professional competence of our contract teachers; they have received basic training, all graduated from regular universities, and are entrusted by the school with the task of nurturing gifted students and teaching classes according to the 2018 general education reform program of the Ministry of Education and Training.

We hope that the authorities will create conditions for contract teachers and staff to be officially employed by the state as soon as possible so that they can enjoy their rightful benefits.

3. Mr. Phan Van Thiet - Head of the Education and Training Department of Ky Son District

The current teacher staffing situation in Ky Son district has many shortcomings. In particular, there are many issues with English teachers due to recruitment standards.teacherPrimary school teachers are required to have a university degree, so it's very difficult for children from Ky Son to find employment after graduating from college. Currently, the entire district has 33 schools but only 12 English teachers. The district has recruitment quotas but there are no applications to submit for the selection process. This has been a reality in Ky Son for several years now.

At the lower secondary level, there is currently a localized surplus and shortage. For example, there are many teachers for Literature and History, but a shortage of teachers for specialized subjects like Geography and Chemistry. Therefore, cross-subject teaching is very common in Ky Son. Regarding preschool teachers, at this time, due to the total quota allocated to the entire education sector across all three levels, Ky Son is actually experiencing a surplus of lower secondary school teachers, which is taking up the proportion of preschool teachers, with no recruitment quotas available.

Given the specific characteristics of Ky Son mountainous district, there is currently a significant shortage of preschool teachers. Therefore, we hope that during the recruitment process for English teachers, the higher authorities will allocate a portion of the recruitment quota to allow candidates to complete their qualifications so that we can recruit English teachers at the college level.

Throughout the district, the ratio of preschool teachers is only 1.5 teachers per class (while the regulation requires 2.0 teachers per class - for 5-year-olds), so we hope that in the upcoming allocation, we will be prioritized for the placement of preschool teachers and English teachers.

4. Ms. Luong Thi Nguyet - Contract teacher 06 - 09 - Kim Son Kindergarten - Que Phong

I graduated with a degree in History Education and pursued a master's degree. Initially, I still thought I would follow my original chosen path. However, life didn't always go as planned, and I switched to working as a preschool teacher for many years. In fact, over the years, with a modest salary, there were times when I felt it was difficult and thought I could find a better job with a higher income to improve my life. But then, several factors prevented me from giving up my chosen profession. For example, in my early years, I was assigned to Thong Thu Preschool, and three factors kept me there: firstly, my colleagues; secondly, the care and support of the school's management; and thirdly, my child was under 12 months old; my husband worked in the armed forces far from home; and I always received support from my colleagues and the school. I was always assigned to the nearest school for convenience.

Secondly, there's the image of the little students, bringing sticky rice and food to their teacher in the morning. The image of students whose clothes might be incomplete, who might not even have shoes to wear, but who still come to school happily, loving their teacher and their school. Furthermore, there's the concern of parents for their teachers. These things keep me in this profession, warm our hearts, and motivate me to improve my skills, enhance my professional expertise, and cultivate the moral character of a teacher so that I can remain committed to this profession for the long term. In the future, we hope to receive the attention of leaders at all levels, and the Department of Education and Training, so that teachers from grades 6-9 can be officially employed, giving us the motivation to dedicate ourselves fully to the cause of education.

5. Mr. Luong Quoc Cuong - Contract teacher of Computer Science - Kim Son Primary School - Que Phong

I graduated in 2009 and have worked in many schools. I love my field and my profession, and I always hope that students will be able to learn information technology and become familiar with computer science.

After 13 years of service, my biggest worry is that I'm still a contract teacher. With a salary of 2-3 million VND per month, it's simply not enough to cover my expenses, especially since transportation costs alone take up a significant portion. I also have young children and a difficult financial situation. Currently, besides my work at school, I take on extra work outside, but the work is irregular because I'm busy with teaching. My life has always depended heavily on my extended family. Because of my dedication to the profession, I hope that the leadership will consider allocating permanent positions for IT teachers so that we can soon be officially employed and focus on our work in the field of education.

Previously, the Ministry of Interior allocated an additional 2,820 positions to Nghe An province to address the severe teacher shortage. The specific allocations were distributed across four educational levels: 2,164 preschool teachers; 498 primary school teachers; 142 lower secondary school teachers; and 16 upper secondary school teachers.

My Ha