AObChairman Verheggen: 'We will not let it pass'
Everyone in the Netherlands recognizes the problem of the teacher shortage. Nevertheless, the cabinet is not investing extra. AObChairman Liesbeth Verheggen is therefore pleased that all education unions and action clubs are joining forces in new campaigns.
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"The action Teacher wanted - invest in education is held with all education unions and action committees. I am pleased that we have such a broad collection of educational clubs again, which conveys the message that good education for our children is only possible with more investment. Because we all know that quality is under pressure. The teacher shortage is only growing, the workload is high, we simply lack people to provide the very best education.
Investment plan
The approach to the teacher shortage is now stuck in patchwork. A multi-year investment plan is needed to give all staff the assurance that the government is behind them, that they have the resources to do their job well in the interests of student opportunities and the development of society.
A multi-year investment plan is needed to give all staff the certainty that the government is behind them
Everyone in the Netherlands recognizes the problem of the teacher shortage. The employers in education see that they cannot find people, only they do not join the action. We do have, however, with the Education Foundation, which also includes employers, made a plea not to include cutbacks in the spring memorandum. In vain, by the way, because the budget of school boards is simply being cut.
Emergency package
In addition, we ask together with the PO council and VO council with Budget Day an emergency kit of more than 400 million euros, to quickly solve the very worst problems. That received a lot of attention before the holidays. We have agreed that the employers will not give up if that emergency package is not delivered.
For the AOb that emergency package can only be seen as a first step towards a larger investment plan. If Rutte III continues to refuse to really invest, we will continue to take action. These can be publicity campaigns, prods, but new strikes close the AOb also not out. In the meantime, we will be drawing attention to education from all political parties towards the elections in March 2021, because we want education to have the place it deserves in all election programs.
