General

AObsurvey: teacher shortage palpable throughout the country

Primary schools across the country can hardly find replacements. In the Randstad provinces it is not possible to fill vacancies. In secondary education, schools fill the gaps with unauthorized persons. This is evident from surveys of the AOb. "It is incomprehensible that the cabinet is ignoring all signals about the teacher shortage," says AObchairman Liesbeth Verheggen.

Tekst Robert Sikkes - Redactie Onderwijsblad - 27 november 2017 - 4 Minuten om te lezen

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It is disturbing that politicians have not taken the teacher shortage seriously for years, while these figures make it clear that the water is up to the lips of schools," says AOb-chairman Liesbeth Verheggen. Especially since the shortage was foreseeable. "Centerdata's forecasts have indicated for years that the problems are getting bigger in primary and secondary education."

De AOb therefore wanted to hire extra young teachers in times when there was still a surplus, so that they would not look for a job outside education. Rutte II gave money for three thousand of those jobs, but the money was not used for that. "Only a few extra teachers have been hired or kept."

Delta Plan

The word teacher shortage does not appear in the coalition agreement, Verheggen pointed out earlier. "Incomprehensible. We knew that the shortage was coming, and politicians do nothing. It is really high time that there was a delta plan to keep the quality of education high. In the short term, the salary must be raised and the workload reduced. to entice people who have left education to come back again. And more young people will choose this beautiful profession. I hope that the House of Representatives can convince the cabinet of this next week when discussing the budget for education. Otherwise, the problem will get worse With always full classes or sending students home."

The problems are greatest in primary education. Across the country, eight in ten schools often cannot find replacements when a teacher drops out. "The reason for that is clear," says AObchairman Verheggen. "Young graduates and returners can easily find a permanent job. They prefer that to an insecure replacement job."

AObchairman Liesbeth Verheggen: "It is disturbing that politicians have not been taking the teacher shortage seriously for years, while these figures make it clear that the water is up to the lips of the schools."

Deficiencies

In addition, schools are increasingly unable to immediately fill permanent jobs, according to the survey among nearly ten thousand AObmembers in primary education. The need is greatest in the Randstad, with Amsterdam as the leader, where three out of ten schools are struggling to fill the vacancies. Last week reported schools in the capital in the Telegraaf Already the alarm about the shortage of people and job site Meesterbaan reported an enormous growth in the number of vacancies. From the AObsurvey now shows that the whole country is struggling with the lack of substitutes and candidates for permanent jobs. This does not only concern primary schools, but there are also serious shortages in special education.

"The consequences for the quality of education are disastrous," says Verheggen. "In primary education, due to a lack of people, children are often divided over the other classes or the director stands in front of the class. Schools have to: the inspectorate strictly checks whether there are authorities. In secondary education, we see that schools, due to a lack of people, putting more and more unauthorized people in front of the classroom. Our members are already reporting that."

A survey among 4.400 members in secondary education shows that the replacement problem is less dire at first sight than in primary education. Three out of ten schools often cannot find substitutes, but that low percentage is only apparent.

To send home

Children with sick teachers are regularly sent home, the interviewees report. "A raid is never arranged, but the students are sent home or the schedule is adjusted and the lessons are cancelled." In addition, unauthorized teachers are used to fill the gaps. "It is difficult to find suitable teachers, you are satisfied with unauthorized people."

Some schools report that the curriculum is being cut. "Instead of three lessons a week, two lessons of Dutch or mathematics," said one of the respondents. The biggest problems occur in science subjects, but increasingly also in languages. Classes in pre-vocational education are being increased due to a lack of people. "Classes that are too large and that regularly leads to dangerous situations in practical lessons."

Vacancy problems in primary education are highest in Randstad

Region	Drop-in problem	Vacancy problem
Amsterdam	80 percent	29 percent
Flevoland	81 percent	24 percent
South Holland North	77 percent	18 percent
South Holland South	80 percent	18 percent
Noord-Holland	83 percent	17 percent
Utrecht	83 percent	14 percent
Northeast Brabant	76 percent	11 percent
West Brabant	88 percent	10 percent
Arnhem-Nijmegen	70 percent	9 percent
Southeast Brabant	74 percent	8 percent
About-Gelre	75 percent	8 percent
Central Brabant	80 percent	8 percent
Groningen	89 percent	7 percent
North and Central Limburg	81 percent	7 percent
Riverland	75 percent	7 percent
Friesland	85 percent	7 percent
South Limburg	86 percent	7 percent
Zeeland	80 percent	6 percent
North Overijssel	83 percent	4 percent
Drenthe	82 percent	3 percent
East Gelderland	63 percent	3 percent
Twente	76 percent	2 percent

Special education cannot fill vacancies well

School type	Drop-in problem	Vacancy problem
Total po	80 percent	13 percent
Primary education	81 percent	10 percent
Special education bao	79 percent	24 percent
Special education vo	70 percent	30 percent