Teachers will be trained based on local demand.

This policy was agreed upon by the Ministry of Education and Training at a conference of principals of teacher training colleges held on December 27th in Hanoi, with the participation of 30 teacher training universities and universities that offer teacher training programs.

Minister of Education and Training Phung Xuan Nha speaks at the conference. Photo: Xuan Trung

Representatives from many teacher training colleges acknowledge that in the past, the determination of enrollment quotas has not ensured a balance in terms of structure, qualifications, and professions to meet actual human resource needs. Policies to attract talented individuals to study education have not been attractive enough, resulting in many fields needing teachers but failing to recruit enough students…

Therefore, the drastic solution proposed is that teacher training must be linked to the needs of the job market. The Ministry of Education and Training will allocate teacher training quotas through a commissioning mechanism based on local needs and the capacity of training institutions.

Accordingly, the People's Committees of provinces and cities determine the demand for pedagogical personnel in the medium and long term, develop plans for ordering, recruiting, and assigning jobs after training. Meanwhile, training institutions develop enrollment plans for each teacher training program based on proposals from localities and the institution's capacity, ensuring compliance with current quality assurance regulations.

Minister Phung Xuan Nha believes it is time for the teacher training sector to put an end to the situation of training graduates who are not employed. To achieve this, there is no other way than to link training with employment needs and quality requirements.

This need must stem from a review of the teaching staff in each locality, providing accurate figures on teacher demand and a commitment to employing them after training. The Ministry will be responsible for working with localities to find specific solutions.

In response to the need for reform in the general education curriculum, the Minister requested that teacher training colleges quickly develop a list of key teacher training lecturers in all subjects.

Regarding the restructuring of teacher training colleges, the Minister affirmed that this is an inevitable trend but requires a roadmap, which includes a framework for thoroughly assessing the current state of teacher training colleges to identify remaining problems and referencing the experiences of some countries.

"This is the best time and opportunity for restructuring because the whole society is expecting teacher training institutions to improve the quality of teacher training. Therefore, each teacher training institution should base its process and approach on its needs. I propose that teacher training institutions participating in the ETEP project (Program for the Development of Teacher Training Institutions to Enhance the Capacity of Teachers and Educational Administrators in General Education) proceed first, and other institutions will follow. Based on that, the Ministry will submit to the Government a plan for restructuring teacher training institutions," Mr. Nha concluded.

According to TTO