Vu Minh Duc, Director of the Teachers and Educational Managers Department, said that since the country began operating the two-tier local government model, the education sector has entered a new phase with both opportunities and challenges.

Commune authorities now directly manage preschool, primary, and secondary education institutions. Many tasks previously handled by district education and training sub-departments are now transferred to commune-level culture - social affairs offices, requiring management staff to be equipped with knowledge and skills suitable for the sector's requirements.

According to a nationwide survey by the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) in August 2025, many communes/wards do not have a sufficient number of officials in charge of education. 

Their commune culture - social affairs offices must perform many tasks in culture, sports, tourism, education, health, science and technology, labor and social affairs. But they have only 10 officials per commune, with officials in charge of education averaging 1.04 officials/commune.

"Many commune-level education management officials lack expertise or experience in education work. Only less than 50 percent of officials in charge of education in communes and wards have education expertise or once worked in the education sector. Many of them previously only handled one education level but now must handle all three levels. Some have education expertise but shifted to other fields many years ago before returning. This has caused confusion in the initial phase," Duc said.

The HCMC Department of Education and Training reported that after four months of merger, 35 of 168 wards and communes have assigned officials to be charge of education but they have never worked in education. 

Similarly, according to Lang Son Department of Education and Training report, 19 of 65 wards and communes have officials in charge of education but they are without matching expertise and two wards and communes have not yet assigned the position.

In Tay Ninh, currently 60 of 96 wards and communes assign tasks to officials who are not trained in education. The figure is 69 of 124 wards and communes in Vinh Long.

Tran Thi Ngoc Chau, Deputy Director of HCMC Department of Education and Training, said that when the number of education management officials assigned remains small, it is difficult to ensure state management requirements in education at the locality, especially financial work.

Professor Dr Nguyen Thi My Loc, Vice Chair of the Education Science Professorship Council, said when implementing the two-tier local government model, the management workload of the departments has doubled, especially for newly merged provinces.

The absence of district education and training offices has led to a lack of intermediate force supporting expertise, inspection, and teacher training.

In addition, the number and capacity of commune-level officials are still limited; Culture - Social Affairs departments handle many fields; many officials in charge of education at commune-level Culture - Social Affairs Offices lack deep expertise or are transferred from other fields, leading to confusion in advising and implementing tasks.

Commune-level education management 

Facing this reality, managers and experts believe it is necessary to standardize commune-level education management staff to meet the requirements of operating the two-tier model.

Loc believes that managers first need to recognize their new role and gradually train themselves to meet the requirements in the new position.

"Managerial officers must grasp their work; they cannot seek help for everything. If commune-level leaders don’t have necessary knowlege, how can they make decisions?" she said.

Some localities have deployed short-term solutions allowing mobilization of principals and core teachers to support culture - social affairs offices in familiarizing with specific activities. For example, in Nghe An, school leaders are assigned to advise on expertise and support commune-level education officials.

Pham Van Thuan, Director of the Academy of Educational Management, said there are two paths to equip knowledge and capacity in education and training for commune and ward education management officials.

For those without expertise and experience in education, they need systematic training. In the immediate time, they should be provided with general training on education management capacity, then deeper training like a second bachelor’s degree, or master's in education management.

For those with expertise and experience in education but have now shifted to other units before returning, immediate training programs to limit inadequacies are needed.

“There should be a competency framework for commune-level officials, which help assess officers’ capability. Suitable programs will be designed to improve their competency,” he said.

Thu Hang