AOb: Education report shows need for mega investment in education
The annual report of the Education Inspectorate published today also shows that it is high time for extra investments. 'The level of Dutch education threatens to drop if the coming cabinet lets things take their course,' says AOb-chairman Liesbeth Verheggen fixed.
The inspection warns including the consequences of the teacher shortage. In short, the quality monitor concludes that you need enough good teachers for good education. The modest increase among teachers in particular is therefore cause for concern. 'If we want to turn the tide on that point, we can only do so if politicians in The Hague decide to dig deep into their pockets', says Verheggen.
Overloaded
It is not for nothing that the informateur and all party leaders of the House of Representatives a letter from the AOb in which we explain that our sector structurally needs about six billion euros extra. Verheggen: 'Anyone who wants a decent workforce must offer a good salary and ensure that the working week is not overloaded with tasks. At the moment, our sector scores unsatisfactory on these aspects: the salaries cannot compete with other sectors and the workload is running out of steam. The classes are too large and too complex and the administrative burden is too heavy due to all kinds of nonsensical accountability requirements. That has to change and yes: that requires an investment.'
Verheggen also attributes the falling math level to the current malaise: 'In primary education, work has become more complex due to appropriate education and at the same time staff rooms are becoming emptier because the sector is not attractive enough for prospective students. That is at the expense of quality.
The problem is not much less in secondary education: there, premiums of ten thousand euros are offered to recruit a mathematics teacher. That is of course a bizarre outlier, but the fact is that we have been saying for years that there are too few math teachers. That will be much less, because a large part will retire in the near future. At the same time, the state invests too little to tackle that problem. And so the level of Dutch students is declining. It's a shame, because we were world class on this point. We have lost that plus when it comes to the competitive position of our economy.'
Make a point
Verheggen emphasizes that the AOb has made a point of the thunderclouds on the horizon on every occasion in recent years. With varying degrees of success: 'Appropriate education is now causing problems because it has been poured out over the schools, but the introduction of that system would have been close to being accompanied by major cutbacks. That discount hit students with a care demand and that led to a lot of outrage, but it took a mega strike and a cabinet crisis to get the discount of 300 million euros off the table.'
The AOb also. 'But they are less likely to give parents and politicians a sense of urgency. We fiercely opposed the zero line and proposals to cut down on employment conditions, but in recent years we have been crying out in the desert.'
The Ministry of Education negotiated the budgets with the employers' organizations and we were allowed to argue with the employers about a budget that was barely feasible.
'With the current turmoil in primary education, this is actually the first time that employers have also said that this is no longer the case. We are happy with that, even though it is very late. Every child deserves a good education, regardless of the school they attend. This means that every school must have sufficient budget and trained staff to offer optimally prepared lessons. Due to overdue maintenance, it requires a billion-dollar operation to get above Jan. To use a cliché: education is not a cost item but an in-depth investment.'
