HCMC proposes yearly financial aid for English teachers amid personnel shortage

By Le Nguyen May 31, 2024 | 08:30 pm PT

A teacher in a classroom at the Le Duc Tho Primary School in HCMC's Go Vap District, May 2022. Photo by VnExpress/Manh Tung

English teachers and teachers for certain subjects at primary school levels in HCMC may be financially supported with VND30-50 million (US$1,180-1,965) a year amid a teacher shortage.

The municipal Department of Education and Training on Thursday said the department was seeking opinions regarding the policy, which aims to attract teachers of the English language, Computer Science, Physical Education, Music and Art to public primary schools.

Teachers who are hired to teach in the aforementioned subjects for the first time would be aided with VND50 million in the first year, the department proposed.

In the next two years, they will be aided with VND40 million a year, and starting from their fourth year, the aid will be reduced to VND30 million a year.

For the first three years after graduation, teachers often meet challenges as they juggle between new jobs and financial burdens, causing many to quit, the department said.

As such, the financial aid will help to motivate them, the department explained.

Additionally, to avoid discrimination, the department also proposed for teachers with at least three years of experience to be supported with VND30 million a year.

However, should teachers fail to fulfill their duties or be disciplined, they would lose the benefit.

This school year, HCMC has managed to hire 267 new teachers in English and other subjects. 731 teachers in the city have worked for up to two years, and over 4,600 have worked for at least three years. The amount of financial aid is expected to be at around VND182 billion a year.

The department’s proposal came as the southern metropolis has been finding it hard to hire teachers of certain subjects for primary school levels, including English.

For the 2018-2023 period, the city needed around 2,651 teachers for the aforementioned subjects, but was only able to hire 1,667, meeting 63% of the supposed goal.

Not only are teachers hard to hire, they are also likely to quit, especially those teaching English, the department said. The reason is low pay.

Statistics from the department in 2022 revealed that new graduate teachers are only paid VND3 million a month.

"It is hoped the new policy will solve the teacher shortage issue," the department said.

The Ministry of Education and Training anticipates that Vietnam will lack 12,400 teachers for the primary school level in the 2024-2025 school year.