Job evaluation is not the cause of the salary difference between educational sectors
The salary differences between primary and secondary education are not caused by differences in job evaluation. The cause is that primary education has been put on the zero line for longer.
That explain the Education Foundation and AObchairman Liesbeth Verheggen. The House of Representatives had asked the Education Foundation to investigate the salary differences between primary and secondary education. Could these differences be caused by the job evaluation system? And should that system be adapted?
The answer of the Education Foundation, a consultation platform of employers and employees, is that teacher positions in primary and secondary education are valued in the same way. “Points are awarded for each part of the teaching position,” says Verheggen. “Running a group independently earns more points than assisting in a group. Managerial tasks yield extra points and so on. " These criteria, together with the number of corresponding points, are the same in primary and secondary education.
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The difference in salary is therefore not caused by the job evaluation, but by the remuneration of those jobs. For example, a teacher with 55 points in secondary education will receive more salary than a teacher with 55 points in primary education.
AOb-chairman Liesbeth Verheggen: 'The cause of the salary differences is that politics is at the wheel'
"The cause of the salary differences is that politicians are running the controls," says Verheggen. First, wages in education are intended to follow wages in business; the so-called reference system. Verheggen: “But if politicians want to cut back, that system is completely or partially abandoned and education is put on the zero line. This has happened for years in both primary and secondary education. But in primary education the zero line started one year earlier. ”
Budgets
Furthermore, Verheggen suspects that different budgets for employment conditions are allocated to primary and secondary education. And that primary education simply receives less money than secondary education. “But we as unions never get insight into the amount of those budgets. I call that the best kept secret in The Hague. ”
Eliminating the salary differences is actually very simple, says Verheggen. “First of all, eliminate the existing salary gap. Then ensure that the primary education sector receives enough money to normally reward teachers. And make the budgets per sector open, so that we can ensure in collective labor agreements that salaries in primary and secondary education remain in line. ”
And finally, use the reference estimates for which they are intended. "Not as a means of saving, but as a guarantee for a competitive salary for everyone in education."
