LookAtVietnam – It is so difficult to find foreign teachers who meet requirements to work in Vietnam that schools claim they are forced to recruit part time teachers without work permits.

Only 30 percent of foreign teachers at the foreign language training establishments have work permits

According to the Hanoi Education and Training Department, there are some 40 foreign invested education centres in Hanoi.

Also according to the department, only 30 percent of foreign teachers at the foreign language training establishments have work permits, while the other 70 percent either work part time or do not have work permits.

Nguyen Quoc Bao, senior official from the Hanoi Education and Training Department, said training establishments have not strictly followed the current regulations on foreign worker recruitment. Many teachers cannot show necessary degrees.

Lacking teachers, training establishments have had to lower requirements.

Even Sakura School, which is recognized as strictly following regulations on foreign teacher recruitment, complains it is very difficult to obtain enough licenses and documents for foreign teachers.

Nguyen Thi Tuat from Sakura School said that it is especially difficult to get visas for foreign teachers. A lot of teachers now only have a tourist visa. Meanwhile, it is illegal for them to work in Vietnam. Tuat has asked the Ministry of Education and Training to work with relevant ministries to discuss a mechanism to allow foreign teachers to work more easily in Vietnam

Vu Thanh Huyen, deputy director of International Cooperation from the Ministry of Education and Training, citing a legal document from the Ministry of Public Security, confirmed that it is illegal for the foreign teachers to work with just a tourist visa. She said that the Ministry of Public Security will not continue granting visas to those people, if the problem cannot be settled.

However, Huyen announced more positive news that the Ministry of Education and Training is discussing with the Ministry of Public Security on licensing foreign teachers in Vietnam.

VietNamNet/CAND