While primary school students in North Holland are still enjoying the summer holidays for a few weeks, most schools are already working hard behind the scenes to get everything in order for the new year. And like almost every year, the main question is whether the schedules will be met. For schools, it turns out to be quite puzzling again, according to a survey by NH. “It gave me sleepless nights,” says Tineke Butter, director of primary school De Balein in De Rijp.
Protests against too many unauthorized persons in front of the class, four-day schedules for the children, a teacher from Friesland in Hilversum for the class and a job market in the Zaan region to recruit masters and teachers. The past school year was turbulent throughout the province due to the teacher shortage. And next school year there seem to be few certainties.
“In any case, we can start anywhere,” says Jeanette de Jong, director of umbrella organization Blosse in Heerhugowaard, which includes 29 primary schools. “We don’t have any acute bottlenecks, but it’s thin ice. We used to have more fat on our bones, a larger group of teachers we could approach or fall back on. We are already happy that we have a five-day class schedule can begin.”
Occupancy issues
The Agora Foundation with 24 primary schools in the Zaan region also had some problems with the occupation last school year. “But all schools can now open in any case,” says board chairman Gernanda Schutte. “But it has been very exciting. We had to shift within the organization, had emergency meetings and in a number of places, support staff will sometimes also be in front of the class under the supervision of teachers. It is all very fragile. These are day rates.”
According to Schutte, the situation is therefore not sustainable for long in this way: “We are not going to do this again next year. We ask a lot of people, but you don’t want them to run away because of that. In the future, we want the teacher to more central. What can we offer them to retain them? Then they must at least like the work and be able to do what they were hired to do.”
Tineke Butter has the idea that teachers still want to come to village schools such as De Balein. According to her because there is a little more peace there. But even for her it was close to getting the occupation done.
“Two teachers retired before the summer and a third went to the east of the country to follow love,” says the director. “It did give me sleepless nights. We had to shift within the organization to get people released and someone who is new to education and who has just finished training has reported at the last minute.”
‘I hope the phone doesn’t ring’
And Butter also confirms that these are daily rates: “I’m really shocked when I get a call on Sunday afternoon. Afraid that a lecturer will report that he or she is no longer coming and that you have a problem. It’s a very shaky balance. We still have two weeks to go so I hope the phone doesn’t ring yet.”