Circular No. 05/2025/TT-BGDDT dated March 07, 2025 on working policies for teachers of general education schools and pre-university schools

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING OF VIETNAM -------	SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM Independence - Freedom – Happiness ---------------
No: 05/2025/TT-BGDDT	Hanoi, March 07, 2025

CIRCULAR

WORKING POLICIES FOR TEACHERS OF GENERAL EDUCATION SCHOOLS AND PRE-UNIVERSITY SHOOLS

Pursuant to the Law on Education dated June 14, 2019;

Pursuant to the Labor Code dated November 20, 2019;

Pursuant to the Government's Decree No. 37/2025/ND-CP dated February 26, 2025 on functions, duties, powers and organizational structure of the Ministry of Education and Training;

Pursuant to the Government's Decree No. 84/2020/ND-CP dated July 17, 2020 on elaboration of Law on Education;

At the request of the Director of the Department of Teachers and Education Administrators;

The Minister of Education and Training promulgates the Circular on working policies for teachers of general education schools and pre-university schools.

Chapter I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope

This Circular prescribes working policies for teachers of general education schools and pre-university schools, comprising duties, working time, annual rest period, teaching load, teaching load reduction and conversion of other tasks into class periods.

Article 2. Regulated entities

1. This Circular applies to teachers in charge of teaching and teachers holding managerial positions (including principals and vice principals) in primary schools, lower secondary schools, upper secondary schools, multi-level schools, boarding ethnic secondary schools, semi-boarding ethnic secondary schools, gifted schools, schools and classes for disabled persons (hereinafter collectively referred to as "general education schools") and pre-university schools.

2. The working policies of principals and vice principals specified in this Circular may be applied to Directors and Deputy Directors of continuing education centers and centers for vocational education and continuing education until otherwise prescribed by competent authorities.

The working policies for teachers of general education schools and pre-university schools specified in this Circular may be applied to teachers in charge of teaching continuing education programs at continuing education centers, centers for vocational education and continuing education until otherwise prescribed by competent authorities.

3. Principals of private general education schools shall, based on the regulations on institution's organization and operation and resolutions of the school council, prescribe working policies for teachers in accordance with this Circular and labor laws.

Article 3. Rules for determination of working policies

1. The working time of teachers shall be specified under each school year and converted into class periods, comprising the number of class periods per school year and the average class periods per week under teaching load specified in Article 7 hereof. The working time of the principal and vice principal must be 40 hours/week, including the number of class periods as prescribed in Article 8 hereof.

2. The assignment of tasks to teachers must comply with regulations on teaching load, working time and rest period in accordance with law; ensure openness and fairness among teachers in the same school. The principal shall prioritize the appointment of teachers who have not been completed the average teaching load per week as teachers holding multiple positions and ensure that teachers meet the requirements for assigned tasks.

The principal shall, based on the education plans, the available teacher force and teaching load per school year, assigns teachers to teach according to the average teaching load per week. Where a teacher must be assigned to teach in excess of his/her average teaching load per week (comprising class periods converted from part-time tasks), the total number of extra class periods per week shall not exceed 50% of the average teaching load per week, and the total number of extra class periods per school year shall not exceed the number of overtime hours in accordance with labor laws.

3. Each teacher must not concurrently undertake more than 02 roles specified in Articles 9, 10 and 11 hereof.

If a teacher undertaking tasks specified in Chapter III hereof (except for the part-time tasks specified in Clauses 3 and 5, Article 9; Clauses 1, 2 and 3, Article 10 hereof) has received remuneration or allowances, he/she shall not be entitled to reduction in the teaching load or conversion of these tasks into class periods.

4. Teachers of multi-level schools who are appointed to the professional title of teacher at any educational level shall comply with the teaching load prescribed for teachers at that educational level.

Where a teacher is assigned to teach at both the educational level according to the appointed professional title and the another educational level, each class period at the another educational level shall be counted as 01 standard period.

5. In the respect of tasks that have not yet been prescribed teaching load reduction under Articles 9, 10 and 11 or have not been converted into class periods under Article 13 hereof, the principal shall, based on the task's complexity and workload, estimate the number of class periods converted from these tasks and send it to the school council for seeking opinions. After reaching an agreement with the school council, the principal shall decide and send a report on the number of class periods converted from these tasks to the competent authority. Where the school council is not established, the principal shall send the expected number of class periods converted from these tasks for seeking opinions from vice principals, CPV committee and leaders and deputy leaders of professional teams.

Chapter II

DUTIES, WORKING TIME, ANNUAL REST PERIOD, AND TEACHING LOAD

Article 4. Duties of teachers and homeroom teachers

1. Teachers shall perform their duties specified in the Charter, the Regulation on organization and operation of each educational level and educational institution and the regulations of competent authorities on duties corresponding to each professional title grade.

2. Homeroom teachers of primary schools, specialized schools and other educational institutions providing primary education shall perform their duties specified in the primary school charter.

3. Homeroom teachers of lower secondary schools, upper secondary schools, multi-level schools, specialized schools and other educational institutions providing lower and upper secondary education, and pre-university schools shall:

a) Perform teachers' duties as prescribed;

b) Proactively grasp information on students of the class to which they are appointed as homeroom teachers; develop and organize the implementation of class activity plans to promote the progress of the class and students therein; organize class activities;

c) Closely cooperate with students' parents or guardians, subject teachers, the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union, the Ho Chi Minh Young Pioneer Organization, mass organizations and other relevant social organizations in conducting educational operations, assisting and supervising the learning and training of students in the class to which they are appointed as homeroom teachers; synthesize feedback and assessments on students at the end of the first semester and the end of the school year; instruct students to vote for commendations and propose therefor; make a proposal list of students eligible for grand advancement, students subject to grade retention, students required to undergo training during summer vacation; complete the recording of academic records for students;

d) Provide guidelines for and manage students participating in experiential activities, educational and training activities organized by the school;

dd) Make regular or irregular reports on the class situation to the principal.

Article 5. Working time of principals, vice principals, teachers

1. The working time of principals, vice principals and teachers of general education schools per school year shall be 42 weeks. To be specific:

a) The number of weeks allocated for teaching contents of the general education program shall be 37 (comprising 35 actual teaching weeks and 02 backup weeks);

b) The number of weeks allocated for learning and professional development to improve qualifications shall be 03;

c) The number of weeks allocated for preparation for a new school year and school year review shall be 02;

2. The working time of principals, vice principals and teachers of pre-university schools per school year shall be 42 weeks. To be specific:

a) The number of weeks allocated for teaching and conducting educational operations according to the school year plan shall be 28;

b) The number of weeks allocated for learning and professional development to improve qualifications, creation of teaching materials, scientific research and other activities according to the school year plan shall be 12;

c) The number of weeks allocated for preparation for a new school year and school year review shall be 02;

3. In case of any unexpected case or emergency for natural disaster management or epidemic prevention and control or urgent cases where adjustment to the school year plan is required, the number of weeks allocated for teaching contents of the general education program shall comply with adjustments of competent authorities.

Article 6. Annual rest period of principals, vice principals, teachers

1. The annual rest period of teachers comprises:

a) Summer vacation as prescribed at Point a, Clause 1, Article 3 of Decree No. 84/2020/ND-CP .

During the summer vacation, teachers shall participate in training and retraining courses under the requirements of their job positions, undertake tasks assigned by competent authorities during the high school graduation exam and enrollment;

b) Public holidays and other leave periods as prescribed by the Labor Code and the Law on Social Insurance;

c) The principal shall, based on the school year plan, scale, characteristics and specific conditions of each school, arrange the teacher's annual rest period in accordance with law, ensuring the school year plan.

2. Where the summer vacation and maternity leave of a female teacher coincide, in addition to the rest period specified in point b, clause 1 of this Article, that teacher shall:

a) Maternity leave as prescribed; and

b) The summer vacation period before or after the maternity leave period;

c) In case the summer vacation period specified at point b of this clause is less than the number of annual days off as prescribed by the Labor Code, the teacher shall entitled to an additional number of days off. The total number of extra days off and the number of days off specified at Point b of this Clause is equal to the annual number of days off as prescribed by the Labor Code. Extra rest period shall be flexibly arranged according to the agreement between the teacher and the principal.

3. Where a male teacher is entitled to maternity leave when his wife gives birth in accordance with the Law on Social Insurance, he is considered as having completed the teaching load during during the maternity leave period and is not required to provide make-up class. In case his maternity leave coincides with the summer vacation, the compensatory time-off is not allowed.

4. The annual rest period of principals, vice principals:

a) The annual rest period of principals and vice principals comprises summer vacation, public holidays and other leave periods as prescribed by the Labor Code and the Law on Social Insurance ;

b) The summer vacation of principals and vice principals shall be flexibly arranged during the school year and the summer vacation of teachers to ensure the smooth operation of the school's activities and the completion of tasks assigned by managing authorities at all levels (if any). The summer vacation schedule of the principals or vice principals must be reported to the managing competent authority or competent authority according to the decentralization.

Article 7. Teaching load of teachers

1. Teaching load means the total number of theoretical (or practical) periods that each teacher is in charge of face-to-face or online teaching per school year.

2. Teaching load per school year is determinated as follows:

Teaching load per school year

=

Average teaching load per week

x

The number of teaching weeks

The above-mentioned number of teaching weeks is the number of ones allocated for teaching contents of the education program (excluding backup weeks).

3. Average teaching load per week

a) 23 periods for primary school teachers; 19 periods for lower secondary school teachers; and 17 periods for upper secondary school teachers;

b) 21 periods for primary semi-boarding ethnic school teachers; 17 periods for lower-secondary semi-boarding ethnic school teachers; 17 periods for lower-secondary boarding ethnic school teachers; and 15 periods for upper-secondary boarding ethnic school teachers;

In addition to following the above-mentioned teaching load, teachers of semi-boarding ethnic secondary schools and boarding ethnic secondary schools shall also participate in managing students, providing tutoring classes for students and organizing specific educational activities of semi-boarding ethnic secondary schools and boarding ethnic secondary schools as assigned by the principal to ensure the school's general operation;

c) Teachers of schools and classes for disabled persons: 21 periods for the primary level, 17 periods for the lower secondary level, and 15 periods for the upper secondary level;

d) 12 periods for pre-university school teachers;

dd) 02 periods for teachers acting as Leaders of the Ho Chi Minh Young Pioneer Organization of primary schools located in Region II and Region III with at least 28 classes or primary schools located in Region I with at least 19 classes; 08 periods for those of the remaining primary schools.

Bases for division of Regions shall follow Circular No. 20/2023/TT-BGDDT;

e) 02 periods for teachers acting as Leaders of the Ho Chi Minh Young Pioneer Organization of lower secondary schools located in Region II and Region III with at least 28 classes or lower secondary schools located in Region I with at least 19 classes; 06 periods for those of the remaining lower secondary schools.

g) 02 periods for teachers acting as Leaders of the Ho Chi Minh Young Pioneer Organization of multi-level schools located in Region II and Region III with at least 28 classes or multi-level schools located in Region I with at least 19 classes; 06 periods for those of the remaining multi-level schools.

Article 8. Teaching load of principals, vice principals

1. Principals and vice principals of general schools and pre-university schools, in addition to performing leadership and management duties, shall teach certain periods in the education program with aiming to grasp contents and objectives of the education program and the students' learning process for improvement of the leadership and management's effectiveness.

2. Teaching load per school year is determinated as follows:

Teaching load per school year

=

Average teaching load per week

x

The number of teaching weeks

The above-mentioned number of teaching weeks is the number of ones allocated for teaching contents of the general education program (excluding backup weeks);

3. Average teaching load per week

a) 02 periods for principals;

b) 04 periods for vice principals.

4. Principals and vice principals shall not eligible for reduction in the teaching load for part-time tasks as prescribed in Articles 9, 10 and 11 hereof.

5. Where a principal or vice principal has completed the teaching load specified in Clause 3 hereof, he/she may apply Article 13 hereof to calculate the total number of class periods for determinating the number of extra teaching hours (if any).

Chapter III

TEACHING LOAD REDUCTION AND CONVERSION OF PROFESSIONAL TASKS INTO CLASS PERIODS

Article 9. Reduction in teaching load of teachers concurrently undertaking various professional tasks

1. Homeroom teachers of general education schools shall be entitled to reduction of 04 periods/week

2. Homeroom teachers of pre-university schools shall be entitled to reduction of 03 periods/week.

3. Leaders of professional teams or subject departments shall be entitled to reduction of 03 periods/week; deputy leaders of professional teams or subject departments shall be entitled to reduction of 01 period/week.

4. Leaders of student management teams in semi-boarding ethnic secondary schools and boarding ethnic secondary schools shall be entitled to reduction of 03 periods/week; deputy leaders of student management teams in semi-boarding ethnic secondary schools and boarding ethnic secondary schools shall be entitled to reduction of 01 period/week.

5. Teachers acting as heads of functional departments of pre-university schools shall be entitled to reduction of 06 periods/week; teachers acting as deputy heads of functional departments of pre-university schools shall be entitled to reduction of 05 periods/week.

6. Where a school has no officials in charge of educational equipment and laboratory, teachers in charge of the school's subject classrooms (except for the computer room) shall entitled to reduction of 03 periods/subject/week, and teachers in charge of the school's educational equipment room shall be entitled to reduction of 03 periods/week.

Article 10. Reduction in teaching load of teachers concurrently holding positions in the CPV organizations, associations and other school-level organizations

1. Teachers of schools located in Region II and Region III with at least 28 classes or schools located in Region I with at least 19 classes, who act as secretaries of CPV committees or CPV cells (where CPV committees are not established), shall entitled to reduction of 04 periods/week; those of other schools shall entitled to reduction of 03 periods/week.

2. The reduction in teaching load of teachers in charge of the internal trade union's operations shall follow the Circular No. 08/2016/TT-BGDDT.

3. The reduction in teaching load of teachers acting as secretaries or assistants, consultants, and deputy secretaries of the school-level Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union shall follow Decision No. 13/2013/QD-TTg.

4. Teachers acting as Chairperson or secretaries of school councils shall be entitled to reduction of 02 periods/week.

5. Teachers acting heads of People’s Inspectorates of schools shall be entitled to reduction of 02 periods/week.

Article 11. Reduction in teaching load of teachers concurrently holding other positions

Teachers may be assigned to perform tasks of job positions that schools may not arrange in-charge personnel during their class periods. To be specific:

1. Teachers in charge of academic affairs

a) The principal shall decide the number of reduced periods for teachers in charge of academic affairs on the principle of conformity with the assigned concurrent workload. The total number of reduced class periods of all teachers in charge of academic affairs shall not be higher than the number of periods allocated for performing academic affairs as prescribed at point b of this clause;

b) The number of class periods allocated for performing academic affairs per week shall be 8 for general education schools located in Region II and Region III with at least 28 classes or general education schools located in Region I with at least 19 classes; and 4 for the remaining general education schools.

2. Teachers in charge of student counseling

a) The principal shall decide the number of reduced periods for teachers in charge of student counseling on the principle of conformity with the assigned concurrent workload. The total number of reduced class periods of all teachers in charge of student counseling shall not be higher than the number of periods allocated for student counseling as prescribed at point b of this clause;

b) The number of class periods allocated for student counseling per week shall be 8 for general education schools located in Region II and Region III with at least 28 classes or general education schools located in Region I with at least 19 classes; and 4 for the remaining general education schools.

3. Teachers in charge of information technology affairs (including the computer room) shall be entitled to reduction of 03 periods/week.

4. Teachers in charge of record management affairs shall be entitled to reduction of 03 periods/week.

5. Teachers in charge of library affairs (including the library room) shall be entitled to reduction of 03 periods/week.

6. Teachers in charge of provision of assistances in education of disabled persons shall be entitled to reduction of 03 periods/week.

7. Teachers in charge of administrative affairs at functional departments of pre-university schools shall be entitled to reduction of 03 periods/week.

Article 12. Reduction in teaching load for other teachers

1. Teachers on probation shall be entitled to reduction of 02 periods/week.

2. Female teachers who raise children under 12 months old shall be entitled to reduction of 04 periods/week if they teach at primary schools; those who teach at other educational institutions shall be entitled to reduction of 03 periods/week.

3. Teachers shall not be required to provide make-up classes and have class periods during the regulatory leave period of receiving medical care counted into their teaching load if the permission for leave from the principal and the certification of a competent medical facility are available.

Article 13. Conversion of other professional tasks into class periods

1. 01 face-to-face (or online) class period shall be equal to 01 standard period for the following professional tasks:

a) Carry out online teaching according to the school's education plan in cases where students are not divided into classes but the number of participating students is less than the average total number of students of 02 classes (the average number of students/class as prescribed in Circular No. 20/2023/TT-BGDDT);

b) Teach Vietnamese for pre-first-grade children of ethnic minority groups (except for the case specified in point d, clause 2 of this Article);

c) Carry out inter-school teaching (means that teachers simultaneously teach at at least schools as assigned by competent authorities);

d) Provide review contents for an entrance/graduation exam.

2. 01 face-to-face (or online) class period shall be equal to 1,5 standard period for the following professional tasks:

a) Act as a presenter at professional training and retraining classes for teachers organized by the principal or competent authorities (including core teachers);

b) Teach model periods at professional meetings as planned.

c) Make reports on extracurricular activities, teach experiential activities or experiential and career-oriented activities organized by the school for students according to the size of grade or school (with available lesson plans, teaching plans, or report outlines);

d) Teach Vietnamese for pre-first-grade children of ethnic minority groups during summer break;

dd) Simultaneously teach 02 online classes or carry out online teaching in cases where students are not divided into classes but the number of participating students is less than the average number of students of 02 classes (the average number of students/class as prescribed in Circular No. 20/2023/TT-BGDDT) according to the school's education plan;

3. In the respect to teachers providing tutoring/extra classes for students whose learning results at the end of the preceding semester are unqualified according to the school's education plan, 01 face-to-face class period shall be equal to a maximum of 1.5 standard period. The principal shall, based on the size of the tutoring class or extra class, the capacity of participating students, specify conversion of class periods in accordance with this Clause after reaching an agreement with the school council.

4. In the respect to teachers providing retraining for good students, students participating in the Phu Dong Health Association/the National Defense and Security Education Sports Festival, teachers acting as instructors of students participating in science and technology competitions/student startup idea contests according to the school's education plan, 01 face-to-face class period shall be equal to a maximum of 02 standard periods. The principal shall, based on the scale and level of the exam/competition/contest, specify conversion of class periods in accordance with this Clause after reaching an agreement with the school council.

5. In the respect to teachers who teach gifted subjects in classes of gifted schools, 01 class period shall be equal to 03 standard periods.

6. Teachers who are assigned to act as judges in the school-level competitions/contests for teachers as planned (competitions/contests as prescribed by the Ministry of Education and Training), 01 in-person marking period shall be equal to 01 standard period.

Chapter IV

IMPLEMENTATION

Article 14. Implementation

1. The People's Committees of provinces and municipalities shall direct the Departments of Education and Training, district-level People's Committees and relevant agencies to provide guidelines and inspect the implementation of working policies of teachers specified in this Circular within their jurisdiction.

2. Principals of general education schools and pre-university schools shall organize the implementation of working policies and facilitate teachers to follow working policies as prescribed in this Circular.

Article 15. Implementation provisions

1. 1. This Circular comes into force from April 22, 2025.

2. This Circular replaces the Circular No. 28/2009/TT-BGDDT and Circular No. 15/2017/TT-BGDDT.

3. Article 9 of the Circular No. 16/2017/TT-BGDDT shall be invalid from the effective date of this Circular.

4. In case the legislative documents referred to this Circular are amended or replaced, the newest document shall be applied.

5. Chief of the Office, Director of the Department of Teachers and Education Administrators, heads of relevant units affiliated to the Ministry of Education and Training, Chairpersons of the People's Committees of the provinces and municipalities, Directors of the Departments of Education and Training, Heads of the Divisions of Education and Training, principals of general education schools/pre-university schools, relevant organizations, units and individuals shall be responsible for implementation of this Circular./.

PP. MINISTER DEPUTY MINISTER Pham Ngoc Thao