AOb: 'New cabinet should make teaching job more attractive'
A new cabinet must invest heavily in education to ensure that enough teachers remain in front of the classroom. To make the profession more attractive, a reduction in work pressure and a better salary is badly needed.
That writes AObchairman Liesbeth Verheggen to informateur Edith Schippers who is in the process of forming a new cabinet. The AOb recently sent an email to all political party leaders brief to shed light on the educational points of view again.
Pivotal function
'The AOb expect a lot from a new coalition, regardless of its composition, 'writes Verheggen. 'Education staff play a pivotal role in society.' At the moment, too much is being demanded of teachers and educational supporters and that has an impact on the quality of education.
The workload in education is too high and the salary is lagging behind.
De AOb calculated that an extra 2,3 billion euros is needed to reduce the workload. A better salary requires an investment of EUR 3,6 billion.
Need
Verheggen emphasizes that the need is high in all education sectors. Smaller classes and fewer teaching hours are required in secondary education. But that is difficult with a teacher shortage of XNUMX FTEs. In secondary vocational education it is mainly older colleagues who are about to retire and in higher education temporary contracts are a problem.
The teacher shortage at primary schools rises to four thousand teachers. In this sector too, the workload increased due to the introduction of appropriate education, which made teaching more complex. In primary education, the salary is also considerably lower than for a teacher in secondary education. That must be brought into line. 'The AOb estimates the costs at 500 million euros, 'writes Verheggen. The AOb mentioned this point earlier in the Salary step-by-step plan.
Look away
'Education should receive a lot of attention during the negotiations for a new cabinet. I say that on behalf of the supporters of the AOb, but also in the interest of the country. The sector is under pressure and the Netherlands cannot afford to look away from it. '
