Many Pedagogical Universities have reduced enrollment quotas.

The enrollment quota for Pedagogy majors at many schools has decreased compared to expectations, and some majors have no enrollment, even though the whole country lacks tens of thousands of teachers.

In early April, Hanoi Pedagogical University 2 (Vinh Phuc) announced the total enrollment target for teacher training programs to be more than 2,670. However, at the end of May, the school received an official dispatch from the Ministry of Education and Training assigning the target for this program with nearly 920 people, a decrease of more than 1,750 compared to the plan.

The most severely reduced major is Chemistry. The school wanted to recruit 563 students but was only given 20 - the minimum to maintain the major. National Defense and Security Education, Physics, Biology, History and Mathematics were all reduced by more than half.

Hanoi Pedagogical School 2 was approved to open two majors: Natural Science Pedagogy and History - Geography Pedagogy to train teachers to integrate these two subjects according to the new general education program, but only recruited about a quarter of the expected number.

Not only Hanoi Pedagogical University 2, many other universities are also assigned to recruit a much lower number of students than expected.

Hanoi National University of Education planned to enroll more than 3,000 students in teacher training programs but was assigned about 2,400. Similarly, Ho Chi Minh City National University of Education was assigned by the Ministry of Education and Training to enroll more than 1,700 students, about 300 lower than the school's previous announcement. Hong Duc University (Thanh Hoa)'s quota was also nearly 300 lower.

In the project on May 10, An Giang University (Ho Chi Minh City National University) announced to recruit nearly 600 students, but after the Ministry approved, the number was reduced to 510. Notably, the Physics Pedagogy, Chemistry Pedagogy and Political Education majors had to stop recruiting. Two new majors planned to open, Natural Science Pedagogy and History - Geography Pedagogy, were not approved.

The large cut in enrollment quotas has left many schools disappointed.

"We have reported to Ho Chi Minh City National University to get opinions from the Ministry of Education and Training," said Dr. To Van Thang, Principal of An Giang University.

With three majors suddenly having their enrollment suspended, Mr. Thang said that the faculties would face many difficulties. He also could not explain why two new majors, Natural Science Pedagogy and History - Geography Pedagogy, were planned to open to meet the demand for integrated teachers of the 2018 general education program but were not approved.

"This affects the school's training and the source of teachers for the program," Mr. Thang commented.

Teachers at Dinh Tien Hoang Primary School (HCMC) instruct first-grade students on the first day of school on August 22, 2022. Photo: Quynh Tran — Teachers at Dinh Tien Hoang Primary School (HCMC) instruct first-grade students on the first day of school on August 22, 2022. Photo: *Quynh Tran*

Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Van Thu, Head of Training Department, Hanoi National University of Education 2, said that when developing the project, the school set targets based on training capacity, including majors that can recruit more than 500 students.

"The school's training capacity is much larger than the assigned number of students, and in reality, there is also a shortage of teachers. Being assigned a limited number of quotas makes us disappointed," said Mr. Thu.

However, Mr. Thu said that the school could not give its opinion to the Ministry of Education and Training because the basis for the Ministry to assign quotas was based on the local teacher training orders, which were then allocated to the schools. In the official dispatch sent to the schools, the Ministry also made this clear.

Mr. Thu said that localities rarely place training orders despite the lack of teachers due to problems in Decree 116 in 2020. Accordingly, teacher training students placed training orders by localities will receive support for tuition fees and living expenses (VND 3.63 million per month).

This decree stipulates that students must work in the education sector after graduation, otherwise they must reimburse the funding. However, there is no binding mechanism between these candidates and the locality that provides the support money.

The head of a northern teacher training college said that this means that the locality pays for the students to go to school but they may not return home but instead flock to big cities to work. Thus, some localities do not need to place orders but still benefit. On the contrary, some provinces, especially mountainous and disadvantaged areas, pay for orders but have no source of recruitment.

In addition, even when they return, these students still have to take the civil service exam according to the regulations of the Ministry of the Interior and are not sure of passing.

"This paradox makes localities hesitant to place orders," he said.

Statistics from the Ministry of Education and Training show that by November 2022, nearly 40 localities had not placed orders for teacher training. 11 out of 16 teacher training colleges were not assigned quotas for next year for this reason. Meanwhile, in the 2022-2026 period, the education sector was assigned by the Politburo to add 65,980 teacher positions. In the last school year alone, localities were allowed to recruit 27,850 additional public preschool and primary school teachers.

At the meeting of the National Assembly's Committee on Culture and Education on May 27, some National Assembly deputies also pointed out shortcomings in implementing Decree 116. The Ministry of Education and Training said it is urgently drafting a revised decree to meet requirements for teacher training and overcome limitations in training orders.

In addition to this reason, representatives of some schools said that the reduction in teacher training quotas is also related to changes in the general education program. For example, at Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City Pedagogical Universities, the majors assigned with few quotas are mainly Chemistry, Physics, Biology, History, and Geography Pedagogy - majors that at the secondary level, teachers must teach interdisciplinary subjects according to the new program, instead of single subjects as before.

Currently, pedagogy is the only major whose enrollment quota is approved by the Ministry of Education and Training. For other majors, universities are autonomous and responsible for determining enrollment quotas, but must make them public.

Duong Tam - Le Nguyen

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