The incident of more than 300 Hanoi teachers petitioning on Circular 08 of the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) with conditions that make it difficult to promote professional titles had not yet subsided when on July 31, Mr. Nguyen Van Duong, a teacher at Phu Xuyen A High School, represented 2,483 teachers at all levels in Hanoi and sent a letter to the Chairman of the Hanoi People's Committee and the directors of the Hanoi Department of Education and Training and the Hanoi Department of Home Affairs on the issue of promoting professional titles, hoping that Hanoi would apply the review and promotion for qualified teachers instead of organizing exams.

It is worth mentioning that although the promotion of professional titles (CDNN) for teachers is implemented in the same way, the application is different in each place. In many provinces and cities such as Bac Giang, Nam Dinh, Hoa Binh, Hung Yen, Ninh Binh, etc., teachers from level III are considered for promotion to level II without having to take an exam. Even in Hanoi, there are Departments of Education and Training that consider recruiting secondary and primary school teachers. Why are high school and continuing education teachers who are well-trained, have graduated from university, and have made many contributions not considered for recruitment? This raises the question of "inadequacy and unfairness between levels of education in a city and between localities".

Despite meeting training standards and decades of experience, many teachers are still worried about not being promoted.

Mr. Tran Xuan Nhi, former Deputy Minister of Education and Training, said that in education, with the desire for teachers to increasingly improve their quality, raising ranks and grades is necessary. However, how to solve it needs to be considered and calculated reasonably, and should not be "leveled".

“We have a saying “old teachers, young singers”, teachers will have their own advantages and disadvantages over time, we should not deny or demand too new things like foreign languages, computer science… Therefore, we should consider carefully”, Mr. Tran Xuan Nhi expressed his opinion.

Sharing about this issue with reporters, Mr. Dang Tu An, Director of the Vietnam General Education Innovation Support Fund, said that in early 2021, a "series" of circulars from the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Education and Training on professional titles and teacher salary classifications received strong reactions from public opinion. More than a year later, the Ministry of Education and Training revised it with many contents abolished. However, the guidance for localities is not specific and clear, and no new official documents have been issued, so each locality understands and does as it sees fit. Annual teacher salary increases are still required by localities, leading to examinations being conducted in different places. "Promotion as a basis for salary classification is correct, but implementation must have a roadmap, the document cannot be effective immediately after it is issued. We must have time for teachers to prepare to standardize the application of conditions, at least equal to the time it takes to be promoted from one rank to another," Mr. Dang Tu An shared.

Mr. Le Nhu Tien, former Vice Chairman of the National Assembly's Committee on Culture and Education, said: "The State, the National Assembly and the Government all emphasize administrative reform in all areas, reforming administrative procedures and unnecessary regulations to create conditions for the common development of the country, economy and society. Therefore, we only do what is necessary, and regulations that are only formal and administrative in nature should not be done. Unnecessary certificates will cause the movement of running for certificates to "blossom" but the results will not be substantial."

Accordingly, Mr. Le Nhu Tien proposed: “From the two key points that the teacher's capacity meets the teaching requirements at the level he is teaching and the needs of the educational and training institution, the promotion is automatic, do not set too many procedures while we are lacking a lot of teachers. When teachers are qualified to teach at their level, they will be raised in salary and promoted after a certain period of time without having to organize too many costly and troublesome exams”.

Talking to reporters of the People's Army Newspaper about this, Dr. Vu Minh Duc, Director of the Department of Teachers and Educational Managers (Ministry of Education and Training) said that regulations on standards for civil servant qualifications and promotion of civil servant qualifications in various sectors/fields are implemented according to the general regulations of the National Assembly in the 2010 Law on Civil Servants and the Law on Amendments and Supplements to a number of articles of the Law on Cadres, Civil Servants and the Law on Civil Servants. At the same time, it is implemented according to the detailed instructions of the Government in Decree No. 115/2020/ND-CP dated September 25, 2023 regulating the recruitment, use and management of civil servants.

Accordingly, the promotion of CDNN from a lower rank to the next higher rank in the same professional field is carried out through the form of examination and consideration (Clause 2, Article 31 of the 2010 Law on Civil Servants and Clause 2, Article 29 of Decree No. 115/2020/ND-CP). Organizing the promotion of CDNN by examination or consideration at the local level is at the discretion of the agency or unit with the authority to organize the examination or consideration of CDNN promotion according to the provisions of law. The Ministry of Education and Training does not have the authority to abolish the regulation on examination for promotion of CDNN teachers and also does not have the authority to propose that localities implement a unified form of consideration of promotion.

However, Dr. Vu Minh Duc said that the teachers' proposal to abolish the CDNN promotion exam form is well-founded and according to information provided by the Ministry of Home Affairs (the agency assigned by the Government to preside over advising on amending and supplementing a number of articles of Decree No. 115/2020/ND-CP), this Ministry is advising the Government to abolish the CDNN promotion exam form.

Therefore, the Ministry of Education and Training recommends that localities, based on practical situations, consider and choose appropriate forms to organize the promotion of teachers' CDNN to create favorable conditions for the team and ensure the identification of teachers who are truly worthy of promotion of CDNN on the basis of the principles of equality, publicity, transparency, objectivity and legality.

Article and photos: THU HA - TRAN HOAI

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