Cabinet announces new education plans

The cabinet announces a set of measures to solve the shortage of teachers in the Netherlands. I think teachers feel they have been undervalued in recent years, says Wiersma, “and that is something The Hague can count on”.

He wants to make teaching attractive, he told Op1. According to the minister, this means, among other things, doing something with teachers’ salaries. “Recently we closed the infamous pay gap, so it doesn’t matter if you work in primary or secondary education. The firm has also spent a billion to reduce teachers’ workloads and two new collective labor agreements have been concluded, which contain a salary increase of 5 per cent.

What the ministers @DennisWiersma and @RHDiijkgraaf All taboos go to excess to reverse the glaring shortage of teachers. “Above all, you have to make sure that the job is attractive. This means, among other things, doing something for the salary. #1 pic.twitter.com/hNLdqYNzKn

– Op1 (@op1npo) July 1, 2022

Unorthodox measures

Nevertheless, according to Wiersma, it is questionable whether such measures are sufficient. “You also need to consider unorthodox measures.” He explains, “For example, there are schools where there is no shortage of teachers, while there are schools nearby that are struggling with a shortage of teachers. The legislator has always kept away from it, but such problems do not solve themselves, as practice shows. Because the education problems are too big right now, he wants to intervene now.

Teacher training courses are also fragmented, adds Robbert Dijkgraaf, Minister of Education, Culture and Science. “These puzzle pieces have to fit together.”

work bonus

Another ministers plan is to provide schools with the space to organize the school day differently one day a week. “In some places in the Netherlands you can already see it due to a shortage of teachers.” Wiersma says he “certainly doesn’t want to go to a four-day school week”, but there has to be an alternative for that very reason. “Now if a lesson is canceled on Friday, sometimes the whole lesson is canceled.”

The government also wants to reward teachers who work overtime. Wiersma: “As a teacher, you sometimes work longer hours, but you are no longer paid. It must be different.

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From: Wessel Wierda