Location: Hanoi, Vietnam; Date: November 20, 2025
The Vietnamese National Assembly (NA) is currently debating a draft Resolution outlining special, breakthrough mechanisms and policies aimed at drastically reforming the education sector, with a primary focus on strengthening the Recruitment & Retention of teachers and administrators. This resolution is designed to rapidly institutionalize the ambitious goals set by the Politburo’s Resolution 71-NQ/TW, which positions education as the core driver for Vietnam to become a high-income nation by 2045.
The draft resolution proposes significant and highly impactful changes in two key areas:
1. Special Incentives and Compensation
To combat teacher shortages and elevate the Teaching Profession status, the resolution mandates exceptional financial incentives:
- Salary and Allowances: It calls for adopting specific and outstanding preferential policies for teachers and staff. Implementation plans suggest a roadmap for increasing preferential allowances, with goals for teachers in early childhood and general education to receive allowances equal to at least 70% of their base salary, and support staff receiving at least 30%. Teachers in extremely disadvantaged areas are slated for a 100% preferential allowance.
- Talent Attraction: Mechanisms are being established to actively attract and utilize high-quality human resources in teaching, research, and management, including improving regulations on the appointment of professors and associate professors in line with international practices.
2. Decentralization and Autonomy
The policy aims to untie bureaucratic knots and provide Innovation in Leadership by strengthening decentralization and Autonomy:
- Provincial Director Authority: The resolution grants provincial Directors of Education and Training greater autonomy in Recruitment & Retention, specifically authorizing them to manage personnel transfers, reassignments, and job position changes for teachers within their province. This move is designed to ensure more consistent and responsive workforce management, allowing quick deployment of staff to areas with acute shortages.
- Institutional Autonomy: The resolution guarantees comprehensive autonomy for higher education and vocational training institutions, including greater power in hiring, budget execution, and curriculum development. This is a critical step in turning universities into Research and innovation centers.
While the NA’s verification agency agrees with the necessity of these policies, it has recommended clarifying supervision and inspection mechanisms to ensure transparency and prevent issues like corruption or localism in the new decentralized Recruitment processes. This Resolution marks a strong political commitment to investing in the education workforce as a national priority.
