General Secretary To Lam talks about teacher shortage

(NLDO) - General Secretary To Lam said that the draft Law on Teachers must solve the current problem of teacher shortage.

On November 9, at the 8th session of the 15th National Assembly, when speaking in a group discussion on the Law on Teachers, General Secretary To Lam emphasized that the draft law was submitted to the National Assembly in November, close to Vietnamese Teachers' Day on November 20, with many meanings, affirming the honor for the teaching profession.

The General Secretary affirmed that education has a very important position and is a breakthrough for national development. With that position and role of the education sector, General Secretary To Lam said that the draft Law needs to cover and demonstrate that position, scope and role.

General Secretary To Lam speaks about the draft Law on Teachers. Photo: Nhu Y

The General Secretary said that the current draft only "regulates things that have not been regulated" and has not demonstrated the importance of the education sector, in which the main subject is teachers.

According to the General Secretary, in the draft Law on Teachers, how is the relationship between teachers and students resolved? "When it comes to teachers, there must be students. Therefore, it is necessary to resolve the relationship between teachers and students well" - the General Secretary emphasized.

Citing the implementation of the universal education policy, the State has a policy that children of school age must go to school, so according to General Secretary To Lam, it cannot be said that there is a shortage of teachers. "If there are students, there must be teachers to teach them, there must be clear regulations" - the General Secretary stated.

The General Secretary said that it is currently very easy to grasp the number of children going to school each year in each locality thanks to the National Population Database, so it is necessary to base on that to have a plan to arrange teachers.

The General Secretary raised the issue of what would happen to students if there were a shortage of teachers and emphasized that this issue needs to be covered and resolved well in the draft Law on Teachers. The General Secretary said that this is a very current issue, we are talking about the shortage of teachers, no staff, not to mention remote areas.

Another major issue mentioned by the General Secretary is defining a teacher as a scientist. Therefore, the relationship between teachers and scientists needs to be reflected in the draft law.

Besides, in the context of national integration, how does the education and training sector integrate, how do teachers integrate? According to General Secretary To Lam, we are currently focusing on improving the foreign language skills of students, gradually making English the second language in schools, so what are the English requirements for teachers, there need to be specific regulations.

General Secretary To Lam speaks at the discussion in Hanoi. Photo: Nhu Y

Along with that is the policy on lifelong learning. According to General Secretary To Lam, if the law is "rigid" it will be very difficult and will not reflect the spirit of lifelong learning, including proposals on the retirement age of teachers.

"It is very difficult for teachers to be allowed to teach after retirement, while our policy is lifelong learning. The older the teacher, the more prestigious he is. If we have inappropriate regulations, we cannot mobilize resources," the General Secretary stated.

Believing that there should be mechanisms and policies to mobilize social resources for the education sector and teaching work, General Secretary To Lam said that in special educational environments, this policy is even more needed.

Referring to remote areas with many difficulties in educational facilities, the General Secretary expressed concern that students have to go to school dozens of kilometers away from home, some places do not have boarding facilities for students, and teachers are not guaranteed official housing.

"If a teacher goes to a school in a mountainous or remote area, where there are no young people, only police and border guards, what will her youth be like?" - The General Secretary said and requested that the draft law be reviewed and covered by policies to fully reflect the situation.

General Secretary To Lam said that mountainous areas must be considered a special educational environment because there are many difficulties. There, teachers must teach, call students to school, and take care of them, all of which teachers must sacrifice. According to the General Secretary, the educational environment in prisons also needs to be considered because it is also very special.

The General Secretary noted that when the Law on Teachers is promulgated, it must create excitement and honor for teachers, and create favorable conditions for teachers in their teaching work, not enact a law that makes teachers find it more difficult in the educational environment.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/tong-bi-thu-to-lam-noi-ve-tinh-trang-thieu-giao-vien-19624110912343128.htm