Amsterdam primary schools closed due to teacher shortage
Sixteen public primary schools of the Westelijke Tuinsteden Foundation will close for a week in December due to the teacher shortage. During that week, the school teams will start thinking about a plan to keep the quality of education high with fewer teachers. "The current system does not work," says Joke Middelbeek, director of the school foundation. "Teachers are stuck."
Picture: Type tank
All parents of the 5400 students received a letter yesterday in which the school announced that it would close its doors from 9 to 13 December. "A tough decision," Middelbeek writes in the letter. The problems with the teacher shortage are noticeable in the school group on a daily basis. At the beginning of the year, for example, they had thirteen teachers too few to get off to a good start. There are now about 25 vacancies and new applications for dismissal are added every month. “We are located on the outskirts of Amsterdam, many teachers from outside the city leave during the school year for a school closer to home.”
Children's Repository
In addition, Middelbeek is concerned about three schools within her foundation, of which she does not know how long they can survive due to all the vacancies that are available. “I hope that I am still in time with this action where we are ringing the bell. We are gradually becoming more of a nursery than a school. The quality of education is declining, we want to let parents know: Please note, your child is not getting the right education now. "
We are slowly becoming more of a nursery than a school. The quality of education is declining
Organize differently
The closure is not a strike. The teachers and school directors are working hard during the week to come up with a plan on how to keep the quality of education high in this 'crisis'. “All schools will come up with this themselves, accompanied by a process supervisor,” says Middelbeek. “You really have to take the time to think outside the system. We need to organize things differently so that teachers are no longer babysitters, but get their profession back. They are now in a survival mode.”
We need to organize things differently so that teachers are no longer babysitters, but get their profession back
The plan may differ per school. The director does say that one man or woman is not the future for the group and that the use of learning plazas must be considered. “There should be a room where students receive instruction from the teacher and another room for processing assignments where educational support staff can come into their own. The teacher is ultimately responsible.” Or the use of 'subject teachers', such as rappers, entrepreneurs or dancers. “You can link these people to our schools, so that students can follow their lessons. We therefore appoint roster makers who plan all this.” Letting go of the administration more is also a possible direction to reduce the workload and the question of who should provide which education. “A subject like Citizenship does not necessarily have to be taught by teachers.”
According to Middelbeek, the teachers and directors are behind the closure of a week and are happy that it has been established that it is no longer the case. Middelbeek wants to implement the resulting plans as soon as possible.
Understanding
De AOb understands the closure, says driver Eugenie Stolk. “This is what the teacher shortage means in practice. It is annoying for parents, but unfortunately the future if there is no structural investment.” Yesterday the union called on all members from primary and secondary education to 30 and 31 January to stop working to reinforce the requirement for structural investment.
