In 2025, the Ministry of Education and Training announced the national minimum entry scores (benchmark thresholds) for teacher education programs. For university-level pedagogical programs, this threshold is set at 19 points. Specializations such as Physical Education, Music Education, and Fine Arts Education require a minimum of 18 points based on the academic subject combinations. At the college level, the Minimum Score for Early Childhood Education is 16.5 for a combination of three academic subjects.

Following this, on July 23, 2025, Điện Biên College of Education officially released its admissions score threshold for the Early Childhood Education program, confirming a requirement of 16.5 points across all subject combinations, including academic test scores, aptitude test results, and priority points (if applicable). This decision aligns with Ministry Decision No. 2099/QĐ-BGDĐT on input quality standards for teacher-training programs.

Principal Nguyễn Thị Tuyết Mai, who chairs the 2025 admissions council, explained that once the ministry set the national threshold, the college promptly announced its admission policy, ensuring both quality control and proactive recruitment planning.

Statistics from the provincial Department of Education and Training show that over the past three years, the proportion of students applying to teacher-training fields has steadily increased compared to other academic areas. Each year, about 650 students are accepted into teacher-training programs, with approximately 500 enrolling in university-level courses and around 150 pursuing college-level Early Childhood Education at Điện Biên College of Education. Teacher training now accounts for about 30% of all student admissions across various fields in the province. Among university-level programs, the most popular specializations include Early Childhood Education, Primary Education, and Social Sciences, a clear sign of growing interest in teaching careers after a period of decline.

Explaining the recent rise in interest, Hoàng Tuyết Ban, Director of the provincial Department of Education and Training said that flexible admissions policies and state incentives are key drivers. Teacher-training institutions have broadened their admissions strategies, offering diverse combinations of subject groupings, as this attracts a wider range of students who are passionate and capable.

Importantly, under the Government’s Decree No.116/2020/NĐ-CP, students in pedagogy programs receive tuition exemptions and a monthly living allowance of VND 3.63 million, significantly reducing the financial burden on families. Looking ahead, with the implementation of the Law on Teachers, educator salaries will be placed at the top tier within the public sector salary system, combined with enhanced professional allowances. These policies create attractive opportunities for students, including high-achieving and ethnic minority students, and are expected to sustain rising enrollment in 2025 and beyond.

Although the education sector currently lacks a special policy to attract top academic performers into teaching, steps have been taken to support ethnic minority students. Since 2021, the Department of Education and Training has worked with the provincial government to secure quotas for targeted admissions into teacher-training programs for students from particularly disadvantaged ethnic minority areas. Students who score 19 or higher in the high school graduation exam (on designated subject combinations) are eligible. After graduation, these graduates are assigned teaching roles in local schools within the province.

At any time, having a high-quality teacher workforce is essential to developing strong human capital. By nurturing policies and incentives to attract talented individuals into the profession, especially after Parliament approved the Law on Teachers with targeted salary coefficients of 1.3 to 1.6 times the standard civil service pay scale, the province is seeing the policy impact reflected in growing interest. Education authorities are also working to raise awareness among students and parents about existing benefits and to implement the Decree No.116/2020/NĐ-CP effectively, especially for students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

These encouraging signals in teacher-training enrollment not only reflect changing attitudes toward the profession but also prove that targeted support policies are paying off. To sustain this upward trend, coordinated attention from all levels of government, educational institutions, and training providers is essential. The goal is to produce dedicated, mission-driven educators who will elevate education quality across the province.