D66 celebrity Rinnooy Kan calls teacher shortage policy 'failed'
The policy to combat teacher shortages is failing. That is the conclusion of Alexander Rinnooy Kan in the Algemeen Dagblad. He gave in 2007 with the report Teacher! the impetus for an investment plan in education. "Classes sent home: that's the complete failure of policy and not easy to fix." This also causes damage to the Dutch economy.
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Every time it happens, Rinnooy Kan (70) says in it General Newspaper, ' is one time too many. It's that simple, isn't it?' The report was published in 2007 under the chairmanship of Professor Rinnooy Kan "Teacher!" to avoid a teacher shortage. The message was: invest in salaries and a lower workload. The plan was enthusiastically received and translated into an investment plan by the then Minister of Education Ronald Plasterk (PvdA). In the crisis since then, investments have more than reversed. With the current teacher shortage as a result.
Attention
'It is policy, but it is bad policy,' says Rinnooy Kan. 'It is not the responsibility of one cabinet or one minister. There is not a serious party that has not been involved in the problems at some point. This very important subject has not received the attention it deserved.'
The events were listed in the AD and the D66 celebrity draws hard conclusions. “We have collectively mismanaged this issue. I sometimes say: education has no enemies, but also few real friends. A true friend will make sure everything is all right. If you look at what we spend on knowledge, it is relatively little, below the European average. Just above Slovenia. That is bad. We don't feel the effects yet, but we will later if it continues like this. We are collectively damaged. The entire economy and entire society.'
D66 celebrity Alexander Rinnooy Kan: 'I sometimes say: education has no enemies, but also few real friends'
Grief
Rinnooy Kan looks back on this 'with grief' and there is frustration that politicians have failed to prevent shortages. In the newspaper he points to two billion euros that he thinks has been added to the entire education thanks to D66, but is also critical of his own party.
"Perhaps we should now conclude that it was insufficient." In the interview, he looks ahead to the elections and a next cabinet. 'We must start challenging the parties that will form the next cabinet in advance. What will you do to prevent this in the future? And then just hope that they will come up with better proposals than is currently the case.'
