“Hopefully something will actually come out of it in the long term”: Minister Demir’s first Council of Teachers meets for the first time in the Flemish Parliament | News

For the first time today, the Flemish Council of Teachers is meeting in the Flemish Parliament. Minister of Education Zuhal Demir (N-VA) wants to discuss the planning burden in education with teachers, but before the discussions have even started, there is already criticism and doubt. “Hopefully something will actually come out of it in the long term,” says teacher Sofie Coppens.

Together with the Council of Teachers, Demir brought together 124 teachers from primary and secondary education on Saturday to think about the planning burden in education. Through the initiative, the minister wants to gain inspiration for measures that should give teachers more time to teach instead of handling administration. “Today you give me homework and I will get to work on it,” Demir said at the start of the meeting in the Flemish Parliament.

There were more than 2,300 candidates for the council. Ultimately, 124 teachers were selected by lottery, with attention to a mix of education levels, networks, regions and experience.

Yet, even before the first meeting starts, there is already strong criticism. Dutch teacher Katrijn Dehantschieter questions the focus on planning burden. “For me, it is not about the real problems in education when we talk about planning burden,” she says at VTM NIEUWS. According to her, the acute teacher shortage is much more urgent. “I don’t think the Minister of Education knows what education really is. I don’t actually expect much from it. I don’t think big things will really be achieved here.”

Teachers Sofie Coppens from Explora Ronse and Lieselot Simoens from Da Vinci Campus Ronse also hope that the conversations will not remain without obligation. “Hopefully Demir really listens to us and knows how things really work in the field,” says Coppens. “Hopefully something will actually come out of it in the long term and we were not here today just to provide information.”

Today, teachers are considering the so-called planning burden: the many administrative tasks that take up more and more time and are at the expense of teaching.

According to teacher Simoens, this can be “drastically reduced”. At the same time, she warns that the pace of reforms is too fast. “Sufficient time must be taken to think about the direction we want to take with education.”

Demir emphasizes that she wants to work effectively with the teachers’ recommendations. “Teachers should above all do what they like to do and what they have been trained to do. That is their core task,” she says. “It is now up to the teachers to discuss this and for me to work on it.”

Another Council of Teachers meeting is scheduled for September 12. Other themes may also be discussed, such as the pace of educational reforms and the introduction of the new minimum targets.