Music and art teachers working “overtime”

Published: 24/05/2009 05:00

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VietNamNet Bridge – Vietnam now lacks some 10,000 music and art teachers. Meanwhile, people employed as music and art teachers have to do extra jobs to pay their bills.

In HCM City, besides Saigon University and the HCM City Central Pedagogical Junior College, several other universities also have music and art teaching programmes, including the HCM City Conservatory and the HCM City Arts University.

However, according to Van Cong Sang, Head of the Personnel Division under the HCM City Education and Training Department, despite the abundance of such faculties, the number of teachers of art and music is still seriously lacking.

The Ministry of Education and Training says that some additional 10,000 music and art teachers are needed.

Teachers wish to have more and more lessons

Sang said that teaching is a job which cannot attract art and music students. Therefore, there are only one or two teachers of art and music in every school.

At Nguyen Van Troi Primary School in district 4 of HCM City, the only music teacher has to take care of all 37 classes, which involves six to seven teaching hours a day. Though he has to work hard, he does not want to lessen his hours: If he had fewer teaching hours, he would not earn enough money to live.

Nguyen Thi Phuong Nga, Deputy Headmaster of the HCM City Central Pedagogical Junior College, said that the base teacher salary is not enough for teachers to cover their basic needs.

Do Xuan Tinh, Head of the Arts Faculty at Saigon University, also said that music teachers always work as music tutors or sing at some performances to earn extra money. Therefore, though working hard, their lives are still difficult.

Not using knowledge from universities

According to Tinh, some 80 percent of students graduating from the art training junior college of Saigon University get jobs at primary and secondary schools. However, after some time, a lot of graduates shift to work for animation film producers, handicrafts and fine arts companies, or package printing companies which offer incomes five times higher than teacher’s salaries.

Tinh said that the knowledge of music and art teachers is very good, but they cannot use the knowledge in teaching at schools.

Nguyen Ha T, an art teacher at a secondary school in Nha Be district in HCM City, said that the school where he is teaching does not have many materials necessary in the study of art. Teachers have to buy brushes themselves to teach painting.

According to Tinh, with their current incomes, it will be impossible to retain music and art teachers. At schools, art and music are considered ‘auxiliary’ subjects, while students focus on natural and social sciences. Therefore, teachers of the subjects feel dismayed with their job because their work is not respected. Tinh said that it is necessary for the Ministry of Education and Training to reconsider the curriculum for art and music in general schools.

VietNamNet/NLD

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