This directive is part of the government's Decree 311/2025, which amends and supplements the roadmap for upgrading teacher standards from preschool to lower secondary levels. The Ministry of Education and Training announced it on the evening of 9/12.

The current education law, effective from 1/7/2020, mandates that preschool teachers hold a pedagogical college degree, while primary and lower secondary teachers must have a university degree or higher. Previously, the requirements were only intermediate and college degrees. Consequently, over 250,000 teachers did not meet the new standards and were required to upgrade their qualifications by the 2030 deadline.

Teachers in this category were originally supposed to have their higher education costs covered by local authorities. However, at that time, many teachers proactively used their own funds to study and quickly meet the new standards. According to the new decree, those who obtained their degrees after 1/7/2020 will be reimbursed for the tuition fees paid, excluding costs for re-taking courses or exams.

For preschool teachers who already hold a university degree, the provincial People's Committee (PPC) will advise the People's Council (PC) on determining the reimbursement amount. This amount will not be lower than the tuition fees for upgrading from an intermediate to a college qualification. The deadline for completing this reimbursement is 31/12/2027.

Additionally, during standard upgrading studies, preschool teachers working in groups or kindergarten classes where at least 30% of the children are children of factory workers will receive additional support of at least 800,000 Vietnamese Dong (VND) per person per month.

Teachers and students at Hung Loi Primary School, Lam Thanh commune, Nghe An province, during a class, 10/2025. Photo: Duc Hung.

Another new aspect of Decree 311 is the elimination of competitive bidding as a method for teacher training in standard upgrading. The two remaining methods are for local authorities to assign training tasks or to commission training institutions. Teachers can also proactively pursue standard upgrading if local authorities are unable to organize classes through the aforementioned two methods.

According to statistics from the Ministry of Education and Training, by the end of the 2024-2025 school year, approximately 92% of preschool and primary teachers and nearly 95% of lower secondary teachers met the standards, representing an increase of about 1-2% compared to the previous school year.

Thanh Hang