Contract teachers to be reinstated after reassessing their performance as teacher shortage bites

With the increasing number of teachers either resigning from work or taking the Extra Ordinary Leave (EoL) and then resigning, the Human Resource Committee members of the Ministry of Education (MoE) will be reassessing the 205 National Contract Teachers (NCT) and Regular Contract Teachers (RCT) to extend their contract period.

Earlier, MoE issued a letter to all the dzongkhags in September that the ministry will not extend contracts for those teachers that can be replaced by regular teachers. Also, the graduates from the two education colleges of Paro and Samtse will be placed in schools across the country.

205 contract teachers shared their grievances that contracts of the NCT teachers were renewed, while many contract teachers’ contracts were not renewed and they were not clear with the criteria also, these teachers were supposed to be notified on the termination of the contract period before three months, as per the contract rule, which it did not happen. Within a month everything was supposed to be done and they were worried.

The Education Minister, Jai Bir Rai, shared that the contracts of contract teachers were not renewed till further teacher requirement assessment or it was kept on halt for further assessment.

However, looking at the current situation of a high teacher attrition rate where outgoing teachers are more than incoming teachers, there will be an acute teacher shortage in the 2023 academic year.

Because of this reason, the Education Minister shared that the contract teachers (NCT and RCT) and graduates from the two education colleges of Paro and Samtse will not be enough to replace the teacher shortage, and the ministry may require new substitute teachers as well.

Every year, 300 to 400 teachers either resign or take EOL or superannuate, but this year due to the pandemic, teachers are leaving altogether and that is the reason why there is a huge number of teachers going, unlike in 2020 and 2021, where only a few numbers of teachers left across the country.

MoE is yet to get the correct data on the number of teachers who have resigned or taken EoL.

MoE has been working on education reforms ever since receiving the Royal Kasho on education reforms. The high teacher attrition rate will have an impact on the quality of education. Teachers from the Bhutan Baccalaureate-identified schools are also leaving too, said the Education Minister.

Lyonpo shared that it is not easy to retain teachers even if they are paid higher than what is paid now. “Teachers are already leaving, and now we have to motivate teachers who are staying back.”

Right now, the highest and heaviest impact is on social ministries, that is health ministry and education ministry, it is of utmost importance to prepare and plan for the situation from getting worst.

“I think the only way is to import professional teachers from outside because we cannot compromise on the quality of education,” the Education Minister said.

While MoE may reinstate the NCT teachers and RCT teachers after further assessment, Lyonpo JB Rai also highlighted some of the challenges, one being that the majority of the contract teachers and regular teachers prefer to teach in urban areas, which affects schools in rural parts of the country.

Meanwhile, teachers who are seeking EOL in the middle of the academic year may have to resign and then go. One of the teachers shared that teachers who already left on EoL are the blessed section, but with transformation or change in place, availing study leave and EoL is suspended for teachers leaving in the middle of the year.

There are many teachers leaving the system due to the workload and financial incentives, which is never equivalent to the amount of work done. Leaders of the school could be another reason to exit the system, the teacher shared. However, it is always a privilege to study in developed countries.

 “I opted for Australia mainly for my son’s education,” said a teacher who is resigning.

The Education Minister said the education sector is different. If suppose a planning officer is taking EoL, their absence may not have a greater impact on the office than a teacher leaving in the middle of the academic year. However, the government has not suspended or stopped Extra Ordinary Leave.