Squeeze through the narrow door

STEM-oriented class of teachers and students at Phu Dong Primary School (Hai Chau District, Da Nang City). Photo: NTCC

This makes many people worried because with the same amount of work and professional level, there are even teachers who have won high prizes and have many initiatives but have not yet had their turn to be considered for promotion due to running out of quotas.

Where to wait in line, where the door is wide open

After the review of the promotion of the professional title of preschool, primary and secondary school teachers from grade III to grade II in public education and training units under the People's Committee of Hai Chau district in 2024, Ms. Nguyen Thi Huyen changed her salary coefficient from 2.67 to 4.0.

Entering the industry in 2014, she was assigned to teach at Le Dinh Chinh Primary School (Hai Chau District, Da Nang City). By the time she took the exam to promote her professional title, Ms. Huyen had been a district-level excellent teacher for a year and won the Encouragement Prize in the city-level E-learning lesson design contest.

“Compared to many colleagues from other schools and even within my own school, I find my achievements very modest. Therefore, being selected and promoted from Grade III to Grade II after 10 years of teaching is a blessing to me,” Ms. Huyen shared.

Le Dinh Chinh Primary School does not have enough 50% of grade II teachers as determined in the structure of civil servant ranks and professional title ranks. Therefore, even though her profile score is 100 and her achievement score is 0, Ms. Huyen still passed the promotion exam.

Meanwhile, Nui Thanh Primary School in the same district, because it had 47% of teachers of grade II, out of 12 people who took the exam, only 7 teachers passed. The teacher ranked 8th in the list of candidates for promotion at Nui Thanh Primary School also had 9 achievement points like the teacher ranked 7th but did not pass due to the secondary criteria and fewer years of work.

According to Ms. Truong Thi Nha Truc - Principal of Phu Dong Primary School (Hai Chau District, Da Nang City), the school's rate of grade II teachers has reached 75%, exceeding the prescribed structure by 25%. Meanwhile, in 2024, there are 12 teachers who are eligible to be considered for transfer from grade III to grade II. Thus, if these teachers continue to work at the school, they must wait for teachers to transfer schools or retire so that the rate of grade II civil servants is reduced to below 50% before they have a chance.

According to Ms. Truong Thi Nha Truc, in 2025, the school will have 2 Grade II teachers reaching retirement age, and in 2026, there will be 5 more teachers. Adding the number of Grade II teachers retiring in the next 2 years, the school's Grade II teacher ratio is still over 50%, higher than the regulation.

The above regulation leads to inadequacies: in schools that have enough teachers according to their rank, teachers who are qualified for promotion, even if they try harder, still do not have the opportunity. Meanwhile, in some places, because the percentage of ranks is not enough, only advanced workers and good teachers at the school level are still promoted.

Teachers won prizes at the Traffic Safety Skills Education Exchange Day for Primary Schools in the 2023-2024 school year organized by the Department of Education and Training of Da Nang City. Photo: NTCC

No rate should be specified.

In 2024, Phan Dang Luu Primary School (Hai Chau District, Da Nang City) has 8 criteria for promoting teachers to grade II. Meanwhile, there are 5 teachers who meet the requirement of 9 years of working experience along with other criteria. Therefore, all 5 cases of submitting applications were accepted even though some people only had 1 achievement point.

By 2025, Phan Dang Luu Primary School has 8 Grade III teachers who are eligible for promotion to Grade II, but there are only 2 quotas left. Ms. Nguyen Quynh Van - Principal of the school said: "Although only one year apart, the 'context' for participating in the promotion exam for teachers in the same unit is different. When the number of quotas is less than the number of participants, the competition becomes more intense. Therefore, at the beginning of the school year, the board of directors encouraged the 8 teachers who will participate in the promotion exam to strive and 'speed up' significantly to have a chance to change ranks."

According to Ms. Van's analysis, with the exam to move from level III to level II, sometimes teachers meet all the criteria, from seniority to teaching achievements, meaning they have both necessary and sufficient conditions, but still have to queue through the narrow door due to the ratio control.

“As a result, teachers feel that the standards applied to this school are not met in other schools, not the general standards. Therefore, the teaching staff wishes for a common standard, which can be higher than the current requirements, but should not set a ratio to ensure fairness,” proposed the Principal of Phan Dang Luu Primary School.

“Sitting in the position of the teacher promotion examination council, we can see that not all teachers have a starting point of graduating from primary school education and passing the exam to become a full-time teacher immediately after graduation. In these cases, the condition of 9 years of seniority will be very favorable. However, teachers are trained from many different sources, such as bachelor's degrees in Mathematics, History, etc.

Then there are teachers who have taught at centers for several years or have contracts with state salaries, and previously had contracts with schools. Therefore, the 9 years of seniority of many colleagues are also full of difficulties and complications and are only calculated from the time of paying social insurance," said Ms. Quynh Van and shared: Some teachers of Phan Dang Luu Primary School suggested that 9 years of seniority to be eligible for promotion is too long and hope it can be shortened.

The Board of Directors of Phu Dong Primary School still encourages young teachers to choose to transfer to some schools in the area with a low rate of grade II teachers to increase their opportunities. However, the number of teachers requesting to transfer is almost negligible.

“We encourage young teachers who are eligible for promotion but are waiting in line that their teaching and learning achievements will still be preserved and accumulated in the promotion application. Therefore, the efforts in self-improvement of professional qualifications and teaching experience demonstrated through professional competitions will add to their personal achievements and be an advantage when the school has quotas, not lost,” Ms. Nha Truc shared.

In addition to seniority, the conditions for promotion from level II to level I are very difficult, there are some criteria that teachers almost cannot meet. For example, the criteria for compiling a document or article that is widely used in teaching and learning.

Many teachers have never been district or city reporters and have not had the opportunity to participate in the district-level civil servant recruitment council. Therefore, although the rate of grade I teachers is 10% in each school unit, not all schools have teachers who meet the conditions to apply for the exam. - Ms. Huynh Thi Thu Nguyet (Principal of Le Dinh Chinh Primary School)

Source: https://danviet.vn/bo-nhiem-thang-hang-chuc-danh-nghe-nghiep-lach-qua-khe-cua-hep-2024100210511609.htm