Phu Vinh Primary School, located in A Luoi 3 commune, part of the former mountainous A Luoi district, currently has over 91 students. Over 50 of these students, in grades 3, 4, and 5, are required to study English as a compulsory subject under the general education curriculum.

Le Hung, the school principal, stated that the entire school currently has no English teachers. The school reported this to the Communal People's Committee (UBND) before the new academic year, but no teachers have been assigned. Additionally, the school also lacks art and information technology teachers.

Last academic year, to address this situation, the Department of Education and Training deployed teachers from other schools to teach across multiple schools. However, this solution cannot be implemented this year. According to leaders of A Luoi 3 commune, the entire commune has only three English teachers, allocated to Hong Thuong Primary School and Hong Thai Primary School. All of them have full schedules and cannot support Phu Vinh Primary School.

Students at a primary school in Hue City. Photo: Vo Thanh

For now, last week, Phu Vinh Primary School self-funded and contracted an external teacher, according to Principal Hung. Students will have English classes on Wednesday and Saturday afternoons, and will catch up on the curriculum with intensive make-up classes in the second semester.

Nguyen Vinh Hung, Deputy Director of the Hue City Department of Education and Training, stated he was unaware of the information. According to him, at the beginning of the academic year, the Department instructed schools to advise commune and ward leaders to arrange inter-school teacher assignments. However, teacher recruitment is currently very challenging.

This academic year, Hue City still lacks 680 teachers, with primary education having the largest shortage of over 300 teachers, followed by preschool (218 teachers) and high school (156). This teacher shortage affects many communes and wards. The reason is that in recent years, the sector has not been allocated recruitment quotas.

In the recruitment drive earlier this September, the city only recruited 145 teachers, with 52 for primary schools.

Vo Thanh