The Ministry of Education and Training has issued Circular No. 59/2026/TT-BGDDT regulating full-time contract teachers after retirement and adjunct teachers.
The circular establishes a unified legal framework enabling educational institutions to make more effective use of experienced educators, contributing to improvements in education and training quality.
While previous regulations governed only adjunct teaching, the new circular introduces a mechanism allowing educational institutions to sign full-time employment contracts with retired teachers who meet the prescribed requirements.
The circular clearly sets out principles for signing employment contracts, eligibility requirements for teachers, working hours, salaries, allowances, the rights and responsibilities of teachers, and the responsibilities of educational institutions employing them.
The use of retired teachers must not undermine strategies for developing the next generation of educators, replace permanent teaching staff or violate labor laws. The regulation is intended to make better use of highly qualified retired professionals, particularly experts, scientists and experienced lecturers, while providing a clear legal basis for educational institutions to employ retired teachers in teaching, scientific research and efforts to improve education quality.
For retired teachers hired on full-time contracts, educational institutions must publicly disclose the list of teachers and their job titles and are responsible for ensuring that their use complies with regulations on quality accreditation and enrollment capacity.
Educational institutions may employ retired teachers on full-time contracts to improve the quality of education, training and scientific research. The performance of these teachers will serve as a basis for determining training capacity, enrollment quotas and quality accreditation in accordance with education laws.
The employment of retired teachers on full-time contracts does not replace the legal requirements regarding permanent teaching staff under relevant laws.
