Vietnam: Are pregnant preschool teachers subject to reduction of teaching hours?

What are the current qualification requirements for preschool teachers in Vietnam?

Under Article 72 of the Law Education 2019 on qualifications for teachers:

Standardized educational qualifications of teachers

1. Standardized educational qualifications of teachers are regulated as follows:

a) Teachers of preschool education teachers must possess at least a pedagogical college diploma;

b) Teachers of primary education, lower secondary education and upper secondary education must possess at least a bachelor’s degree in pedagogy training.

In case a subject is yet to acquire enough teachers with bachelor’s degree in pedagogy training, teachers of this subject must possess a bachelor's degree of suitable specialization and a certificate of pedagogy training;

c) Lecturers of higher education must possess a master’s degree; lecturers teaching or instructing master or doctor’s theses must possess a doctoral degree.

b) Standardized educational qualifications of teachers working in institutions of vocational education shall follow regulations in the Law on Vocational education.

2. The Government shall specify road maps for improving standardized educational qualifications of teachers of preschool education, primary education and lower secondary education as prescribed in point a and point b of clause 1 of this Article. Within the scope of their duties and authorities, the Minister of Education and Training and Minister of Labour - War Invalids and Social Affairs shall stipulate employment of teachers not meeting criteria prescribed in clause 1 of this Article.

Thus, preschool teachers are required to possess at least a pedagogical college diploma.

Are pregnant preschool teachers in Vietnam subject to reduction of teaching hours? (Image from the Internet)

Are pregnant preschool teachers in Vietnam subject to reduction of teaching hours?

Under Article 5 of Circular 48/2011/TT-BGDDT (replaced by clause 2, Article 5 of Circular 08/2016/TT-BGDDT and annulled by clause 2, Article 11 of Circular 54/2012/TT-BGDDT:

Reduction of teaching hours and conversion of other professional activities into teaching hours

1. Reduction of teaching hours for teachers with concurrent duties

a) Teachers serving as president or vice-president of the internal trade union without being considered as permanent staff are entitled to a reduction of 06 teaching hours per week (equivalent to 210 hours per academic year); teachers serving as members of the executive committee of the trade union or head, deputy head of the trade union without being considered as permanent staff are entitled to a reduction of 03 teaching hours per week (equivalent to 105 hours per academic year).

b. Teachers concurrently serving as the head of the inspection board of the people's inspectorate are entitled to a reduction of 02 teaching hours/week;

c. Teachers concurrently serving as the head of the professional team are entitled to a reduction of 03 teaching hours per week;

d. Each teacher shall not concurrently assume more than 02 positions and shall enjoy the policy of reduced teaching hours at the highest position.

2. Reduction of teaching hours for female teachers: female teachers with children under 12 months old are entitled to a reduction of 05 teaching hours per week.

3. Converting other professional activities into teaching hours

In addition to the main teaching duties in the classroom, teachers must also perform other professional activities and duties as assigned by the Principal. The conversion of these activities into teaching hours is as follows:

b) For teachers mobilized to participate in the duties of guiding, training, and professional development conducted by the Department of Education and Training, one practical teaching hour is equivalent to one teaching hour.

Currently, there is no regulation on the reduction of teaching hours for pregnant teachers.

However, female teachers with children under 12 months old are entitled to a reduction of 05 teaching hours per week.

How many hours must preschool teachers in Vietnam teach?

Under Article 4 of Circular 48/2011/TT-BGDDT:

Teaching hours of teachers

1. For teachers teaching daycare groups and kindergartens with 02 sessions/day: each teacher must teach in the classroom for 6 hours/day and perform preparation duties for teaching in classroom and other duties as assigned by the Principal to ensure 40 working hours/week.

2. For teachers teaching daycare groups and kindergartens with 01 session/day: each teacher must teach in the classroom for 04 hours/day and perform preparation duties for teaching in classroom and other duties as assigned by the Principal to ensure 40 working hours/week.

3. For teachers teaching classes with children with disabilities integrated, each teacher must teach sufficient hours as stipulated in clause 1 or clause 2 of this Article; with every 01 child with disabilities per class, each teacher is counted an additional 0.5 teaching hours/day.

4. For principals and vice-principals, besides performing the duties of the principal and vice-principal as stipulated in the Charter of preschool institutions, the principal must directly participate in educational activities (teaching children or observing teachers' class) 02 hours per week; the vice-principal must directly participate in educational activities 04 hours per week.

Therefore, the teaching hours of preschool teachers are regulated as follows:

- Teachers teaching daycare groups and kindergartens with 02 sessions/day: teachers must teach in the classroom for 6 hours/day.

- Teachers teaching daycare groups and kindergartens with 01 session/day: teachers must teach in the classroom for 04 hours/day.

- Teachers teaching classes with children with disabilities integrated, each teacher must teach sufficient hours as mentioned above; with every 01 child with disabilities per class, each teacher is counted as an additional 0.5 teaching hours/day.

In addition to the teaching hours, preschool teachers must also perform preparation duties for teaching in the classroom and other duties as assigned by the Principal to ensure 40 working hours/week.