HCMC schools face severe shortage of arts teachers
High schools in HCM City will collect data on students’ elective preferences to try and recruit teachers for the 10th grade in the upcoming school year.
Currently, HCM City lacks teachers for art and music lessons that are to be held twice a week under the General Education Programme 2018.
Nguyễn Đăng Khoa, principal of Marie Curie High School in District 3, said they were waiting for the final number of students signing up for elective combinations before making new moves.
“After the students are admitted, we plan to divide their parents into groups and talk to each about their children’s career orientation and how to benefit the students the most,” he said.
The lack of music and art teachers is a common challenge facing high schools in HCM City because the two pedagogical universities in the city do not offer specialised training for teachers in these two subjects.
Vũ Thị Ngọc Dung, principal of the Bùi Thị Xuân High School in District 1, said that the school is considering recruiting primary school teachers with university degrees in music teaching for the following academic year.
“At the moment, the school only teaches art. The experience in conducting this course will form the foundation for music lessons later,” she said.
Meanwhile, some schools have decided to inform students that art and music courses will not be offered at the beginning of the school year.
Nguyễn Thị Thanh Trúc, principal of the Dương Văn Thì High School in Thủ Đức City said that organisation of elective combinations was based on personnel and practical conditions at the schools and if there was no recruitment source, the school will not offer the courses.
"The school currently has two elective subjects – informatics and technology. These subjects are based on an international standard project implemented in previous years, which has proven to be very beneficial for students," she added.
According to Tống Phước Lộc, head of Personnel and Organisation Department under the HCM City Department of Education and Training, schools are currently reviewing recruiting needs of each unit and gathering necessary feedback for the department to form a future recruitment plan in July and August.
As regulations on household
registration have been removed, the teacher recruitment process has become more convenient, he said.
The city's Department of Education and Training is also planning to co-operate with Sài Gòn University and HCM City University of Education to train the next generation of teachers, ensuring that graduates meet teaching
requirements in all subjects.
Acknowledging that there will be difficulties in recruiting teachers for music and art classes this year, Lộc said that the department has now increased some schools’ autonomy to recruit teachers, as can be seen with the Trần Đại Nghĩa and Lê Hồng Phong high schools for the gifted.