Southern Schools Short Of Teachers

Southern provinces are grappling with a dire shortage in teachers as the new school year approaches. According to the HCM City Department of Education and Training, which has been recruiting since March, only 1,900 new teachers have entered its pay-sheet. The figure is 1,200 below the number needed across the kindergarten, primary and secondary sectors. Historically, outer districts have faced difficulties attracting teachers to remote areas, a problem now shared by inner districts, according to the department. It is said the dearth of teachers has been most felt in kindergartens and primary schools. Le Hong Son, head of the municipal education department, said efforts to recruit teachers were continuing. The department has also proposed the HCM City People's Committee allow the recruitment of migrant teachers to work in kindergartens and primary schools across the city. Head of the department Do Minh Hoang said the shortage was due to an increase in urban migrants with children. Prof Nguyen Kim Hong, Principal of the HCM City Pedagogical University, said the connection between colleges and local education departments meant recruitment was slow, limited and ineffective. "Most colleges are not aware of the recruitment plan of localities," Hong added. Hong stressed that long term recruitment planning was needed to address the disparity in shortages across the region. He said many schools were suffering major shortages while some had a surplus of teachers. Even though student/teacher ratios were high, colleges could not expand their operations due to a shortage of eligible lecturers. Hoang, from the municipal education department, said the shortage of teachers in kindergartens had prompted numerous schools to arrange for a ‘nanny' to help teachers with larger class sizes. In a bid to plug the shortage, the department has encouraged nannies to undergo further training to qualify as kindergarten teachers. Son said the department was co-operating with Sai Gon University to establish a pedagogy college and training centre for teachers in the city. If the project is successful, the shortage of teachers in kindergarten and primary school will end by 2015, he added. Meanwhile, provinces and cities in the Mekong Delta have expressed similar worries about the supply of teachers. Dong Thap Province will need a further 500 teachers for primary schools and kindergartens, and at least 60 teachers for senior and junior high schools. Currently, there are 17,740 teachers in the province. Kien Giang Province will need an additional 1,000 teachers to fill shortages across the sector. (Vietnam News Aug 16)