Solutions to attract good teachers

There are still many difficulties.

According to statistics from the Ministry of Education and Training, currently only 33% of lecturers nationwide have a doctorate degree or higher. Specifically, there are nearly 91,300 university lecturers and college lecturers in preschool education. Of these, more than 30,000 lecturers have a doctorate degree or higher, accounting for 33%.

To attract highly qualified lecturers, public universities in Ho Chi Minh City are currently "launching" many attractive policies such as: huge income, good training and development opportunities, many accompanying benefits... This is to increase the quality and scale of training, meet standards, and at the same time promote the development of science and technology, innovation.

According to assessments, these policies have initially had positive results, but in reality there are still many difficulties in developing a team of good lecturers.

Many attractive policies to attract highly qualified lecturers

Sharing about one of the current difficulties for lecturers in public schools, many opinions said that the current salary of lecturers with PhDs is too low, about 15 million VND/month, not including allowances. This is a low salary compared to the high requirements of the job and the increasing cost of living, especially in big cities like Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

This is also one of the major obstacles that has made it difficult for the University of Economics and Law (Ho Chi Minh City National University) to develop its staff in recent years. Accordingly, since 2018, the school has implemented many policies to attract high-quality human resources. However, in the past 3 years, the school has only recruited 31 permanent lecturers (32%), but up to 30 permanent lecturers have quit or transferred jobs, including 4 associate professors, 13 doctors and 13 masters.

Meanwhile, at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities (Ho Chi Minh City National University), in 2024 the school registered to recruit 6 lecturers with doctoral degrees or higher for the majors of German language, religious studies, education, psychology, linguistics and area studies under the talent attraction program of Ho Chi Minh City National University. Up to now, after 3 rounds, the school has not recruited anyone.

Ho Chi Minh City University of Law Principal Le Truong Son also shared that the current process of recruiting and appointing lecturers still depends on many administrative regulations, making it difficult to be flexible in using human resources. Administrative procedures can take several months. During that time, candidates can change their minds because they receive more attractive offers from other places.

Many attractive support policies

Faced with the challenge of attracting lecturers, many public universities in the city have shifted to training at the source, with many attractive support policies.

For example, to create favorable conditions and support policies for lecturers to improve their qualifications, Ho Chi Minh City University of Industry exempts 100% of doctoral tuition fees for its lecturers, reduces 150 standard teaching hours/school year to ensure research and study time, and helps lecturers access advanced training programs. Upon completing the course and submitting their degrees to the school, domestic PhD graduates are awarded 50 million VND, while foreign PhD graduates receive a bonus of 120 million VND.

Many public universities are shifting to training at the source.

Similarly, Ho Chi Minh City University of Law also introduced a strong incentive policy to create its own source of lecturers. Accordingly, civil servants and employees who complete their doctoral programs will receive a bonus of 50-100 million VND. In particular, lecturers who are awarded the title of associate professor will receive a bonus of 200 million VND, and professors will receive a bonus of 250 million VND.

To attract young talent, the school also implements a policy of selecting excellent students aged 18-30 for a 12-month teacher internship program. During this time, they will receive 100% of their salary and additional income. After the internship period, candidates will be appointed to a civil servant position and their salary will be ranked according to their level of education.

Applying a more drastic policy, Ho Chi Minh City University of Industry and Trade requires all female lecturers under 45 years old and male lecturers under 50 years old to pursue a doctorate. Those who do not comply will be affected in their annual competition evaluation, and may even be classified as having failed to complete their tasks. Along with that, the school supports all tuition fees, ensures income during the study period, and for lecturers studying abroad, the school supports them with diplomatic scholarships.

Support policies and specific mechanisms are needed.

In addition to the efforts of the schools, the Principal of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities (Ho Chi Minh City National University) Ngo Thi Phuong Lan said that the State needs to have support policies and specific mechanisms in research, maintaining training and developing basic and difficult-to-recruit sciences to meet the country's sustainable development goals.

To create a favorable mechanism for training institutions to attract and retain highly qualified lecturers, Director of Ho Chi Minh City National University Vu Hai Quan proposed that key public schools should be allowed to have a specific mechanism to decide on their own salaries, benefits and policies to attract talent instead of being bound by a common salary framework.

At the same time, it is necessary to build a flexible recruitment mechanism, shorten the recruitment process; need to invest heavily in research and academic infrastructure; need to have a policy to support young lecturers and scientists returning home with financial support packages; need to have a mechanism for Ho Chi Minh City National University and key universities to appoint professors and associate professors.

According to Mr. Quan, when given the right to appoint, universities can build independent academic review boards, set their own standards, suitable for the characteristics of training and research. From there, large universities can introduce more flexible policies to attract talent, quickly recruit excellent scientists, especially those working abroad. This will also help lecturers have more motivation to strive, creating positive competition in research and teaching.

Tinh Ha

Source: https://daibieunhandan.vn/giai-phap-thu-hut-giang-vien-gioi-post409240.html