Home » Business » Insufficient approach to teacher shortage, cabinet intends to intervene unorthodox | Inland

Insufficient approach to teacher shortage, cabinet intends to intervene unorthodox | Inland

The government is also considering introducing legal requirements for good employership in schools.

According to the education ministers, the teacher shortage is serious and it is getting worse every day. In primary education there is a shortage of 9,100 full-time teachers, in secondary education it is 1,700. “Teachers, students and parents notice every day how insidiously the teacher shortage is disrupting the classroom, the school and the future of students. We therefore do not have the luxury of creating taboos, we also need to discuss sensitive topics quickly,” said Minister Wiersma. The ministers suggest a social dialogue, via meetings in the country and via social media.

Tinkering with the way we fund education in the Netherlands has always been a sensitive issue in the education world. Schools have virtually free rein when it comes to the money that the government provides to them, there are hardly any conditions attached to it. Dijkgraaf and Wiersma are now considering changing this. “Due to the way in which schools are now funded, there is no incentive to jointly solve the teacher shortage in the region,” they write in a letter to the House of Representatives. They want to build in more ‘financial incentives’. How to do that, they stay away from that. They want to discuss it with the educational field and other stakeholders. Consideration could be given to extra money for regions where the teacher shortage is most acute, and therefore less for where things are going well.

Dilemma

Another thorny issue is unqualified teachers in the classroom. Now that the shortage of teachers is so great, it is increasing. At the same time, this gnaws at the image of education, which in turn could lead to fewer new teachers registering. Dijkgraaf and Wiersma also want to have a vigorous discussion about this dilemma.

Then there is the way some schools treat their teachers. That does not always go well, see Wiersma and Dijkgraaf. They are therefore considering laying down new rules of the game in law. This revolves around, for example, offering better contracts, more development opportunities and better guidance for starters.

Earlier it was decided to put considerably more money into education. To this end, an education agreement was concluded in April. The cabinet then released 1.5 billion euros, including for significantly higher wages and an extra allowance for teachers in schools with many vulnerable students.

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