Professional licenses will be issued to prevent 'self-proclaimed teachers'.

This was the content presented by the Ministry of Education and Training at a seminar to gather feedback on the draft Law on Teachers, held on the afternoon of May 17th.

Mr. Vu Minh Duc, Director of the Department of Teachers and Educational Management Staff, said that one of the regulations mentioned in the draft Law on Teachers is the issuance of professional certificates to teachers. This will be a document confirming the qualifications of teachers, issued by the competent authority to those who meet the prescribed standards.

Thus, those who are automatically granted certificates without needing to pass an examination include 1.6 million teachers in public and private schools who were recruited into the profession before the law came into effect.

For retired teachers who have not yet been granted a professional license, they can also apply for one if they wish, to acknowledge their contributions to education or to continue their professional activities.

Newly recruited teachers after the law comes into effect will have to undergo an examination to obtain a professional license.

According to Mr. Duc, there are two sources for becoming a teacher: graduates from teacher training colleges and graduates from other fields who meet the required qualifications and possess a teaching certificate. All of these individuals must complete a one-year internship, after which they will be evaluated as having completed the internship and will be considered for employment by the recruiting agency.

The vocational training module structure will include modules already taught in teacher training universities. Therefore, graduates from teacher training universities participating in these training courses will avoid learning overlapping content and will have their training time shortened, allowing them to obtain their professional certification sooner.

The Director of the Department of Teachers also stated that there are individuals who do not work in educational institutions and only teach online who also need to be granted licenses. According to him, this issue was addressed during the drafting process; however, these individuals operate quickly and complexly, especially those providing online training. Therefore, the drafting committee will propose a pilot program to manage some of these individuals, and further revisions and additions will be made based on the results.

"Therefore, this professional certification will help enhance the status and role of teachers, distinguishing those who are qualified to teach from those who are unqualified but falsely claim to be teachers on social media," Mr. Duc said.

Furthermore, this professional certificate will also facilitate changes in the workplace for teachers because it is valid nationwide. Thanks to this, regardless of where they teach, teachers will not need to repeat the probationary period, reducing procedures when transferring and signing employment contracts...

In 2023, the Ministry of Education and Training organized more than 100 professional meetings and workshops to solicit opinions from experts inside and outside the sector on various scales; conducted surveys and gathered opinions from more than 547,000 teachers and education administrators at all levels of education, including preschool, primary, secondary, university, and vocational education, to serve the analysis and evaluation for the purpose of refining policies in the draft Law on Teachers.