In early 2009, Go Vap district in HCM City publicly announced a competition to select a suitable official for the post of the Head of the Go Vap district’s Education Sub-department.

An outdoors lesson of Hanh Thong School’ students at Gia Dinh park

Two candidates were introduced, Nguyen Long Son, who then was the Deputy Head of the Go Vap district’s Education Sub-department and Dang Thanh Tuan, then Principal of Hanh Thong Primary School.

Chairman of the Recruitment Council Truong Van Non, Chairman of the Go Vap district People’s Committee, said that organising competitions to select heads in education is something he learned from Da Nang city. In recent years, Da Nang has organised a lot of competitions to find deputy principals for high schools.

Regarding the presentation, candidates had to prepare an action plan and give slide shows with Power Point before the recruitment council. The action plan needed to be introduced within 45 minutes. The candidates, as the head of the district’s education sub-department, needed to introduce viewpoints, plans and measures to deal with the issues raised by the council.

Finally, Dang Thanh Tuan was selected Head of the Go Vap district’s education sub-department.

Tuan, 45, graduated from HCM City Pedagogical University, the HCM City Law University and has an MA in education from New Zealand University. He has been working as the Principal of the Kim Dong and Hanh Thong Primary Schools.

At Hanh Thong Primary School, every classroom has one computer which can help make lessons more lively with the films serving the themes of lessons. The school has also led in taking initiatives to help ease traffic jams in front of the school. The school has decided to organise outdoors lesson at Gia Dinh park in order to bring lively lessons to students.

Encouraging teachers’ creativeness in their works will be the goal he will strive to attain when he holds the post of head of education sub-department.

“Go Vap district now has nearly 4,000 teachers and 100,000 students. We want to make a breakthrough in education in the coming years; therefore, the selection of the head of education sub-department needs to be carried out in a scientific and reasonable way,” Non said.

He added that he wants a head of education sub-department who dares do things a new way, dares work new ways and dares take responsibility for his works.

“Teachers are now bearing hard pressure. Managers want teachers to follow their instructions. As a result, teachers do not have time to think and find out new interesting things. If we can encourage teachers’ initiatives, we will have good teaching methods,” Tuan said.

Since 2007, the Da Nang Education and Training Department has organised competitions to choose deputy principals for Phan Chu Trinh and Thai Phien High Schools. In December 2008, the city organised a competition to select deputy principal for the leading high school in the city, the Le Quy Don Gifted School. The schools’ principal is now also the Deputy Director of the Da Nang Education and Training Department.

In 2008, the Ministry of Education and Training announced on its official website it was seeking two deputy ministers for the ministry.

Doan Truc