About fifty young lecturers from the University of Amsterdam (UvA) demonstrated this afternoon at the Maagdenhuis for better working conditions. A thorn in the eye are the temporary contracts that the University of Amsterdam works with. Because according to the law these can only be provided three times, most teachers are back on the street after three years.
Young UvA lecturers want permanent contracts – NH Nieuws
One of them is Eelco Biersteker, who will be forced to resign from his duties at the UvA next summer. “Then my position will be replaced by someone else who will do exactly the same job and who is inexperienced again,” says Eelco. “Experience is needed to become a good teacher, but experience doesn’t get a chance this way.”
“I love this course and my students, but it will be ready in a year and a half”
Another protester, a young teacher, is holding a sign that reads ‘I can’t get no contract satisfaction’. “I love teaching. I love being in front of a class, I love my students,” she says. “But it’s sad. It will be ready for me in a year and a half.”
Eelco will also have to look for a different position next summer. “What I’m going to do is still the question. Many teachers move to another university after three years, where the song starts all over again. It’s a situation that is not good for any university.”
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The teachers chose the Maagdenhuis as a backdrop for the demonstration. Historical protests have been held on the site, such as in 1969 when students occupied the building for five days because they wanted a say in the administration. Today’s demonstrators kept it fairly modest for the time being: after about three hours the protest was over.
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