The two Education Ministers announced this on Friday after the Council of Ministers. Robbert Dijkgraaf (MBO and higher education, D66) speaks of ‘a tough problem’. Dennis Wiersma (primary and secondary education, VVD) says that ‘the classic picture of a permanent teacher in front of the classroom is no longer feasible in many places’. This leads to ‘a lot of stress, powerlessness and discomfort’.
The two ministers want to ‘stand next to the teacher’ and enter into discussions with professional organizations to prevent further disruption of education. ‘Now many schools are looking for their own solution if there is no teacher on Friday’, says Wiersma. ‘It’s getting messier. We want more national control to prevent disorganization.’
Other daily schedule
For example, consideration should be given to ‘a different daily and weekly schedule in primary and secondary schools’. School boards are being asked to offer more flexibility in working hours, so that teachers can, for example, take their children to school first. Conceivable measures are also legal requirements for good personnel policy, which promote a pleasant working atmosphere. Starters should be better supervised, so that they remain associated with education for longer.
Another question that the ministers want to discuss is whether financial incentives can be built into the funding system. Instead of working together regionally, schools are now stealing teachers from each other. A reward for collaborating schools could compensate for this.
People with support functions should ensure that the teacher can concentrate on teaching. ‘That hour of surveillance can also be done by someone other than the teacher,’ says Wiersma. The shortages are also felt in MBO, especially in care and technology. Dijkgraaf sees opportunities for more flexibility in the courses, without having to lower the quality requirements.
Less part-time work
It is also important to continue with measures that have proven to be effective. That means: not everyone goes to university, but encourage students to follow teacher training. More lateral entrants, more permanent appointments and less part-time work also help, provided extra hours are actually paid.
Two years ago, Wiersma’s predecessor Arie Slob (ChristenUnie) called himself ‘a positive realist’ in combating the teacher shortage. He focused in particular on the five major cities (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, Utrecht, Almere), where the shortages are the highest. Slob earmarked extra money for the plans the cities made to combat the shortages.
In April, Wiersma was able to report that salaries in primary education will be aligned with those in secondary education. But according to him it is still necessary to look ‘creatively’ at other solutions that make the teaching profession more attractive. Digital tools can also help with this. “If we don’t do a lot of things at once, we’ll bite ourselves in the tail.”