Large demonstration Rotterdam for more education money
With the Rotterdam skyline as a background, eleven thousand teachers, support staff and school leaders made it clear this afternoon in a long procession that education minister Arie Slob (ChristenUnie) must provide extra money for primary education. "Arie, be a guy, give us dividends."
Image: Rob Niemantsverdriet
"Two minutes. Then we can ”, says one of the volunteers with two fingers in the air. The police are standing stand-by and the group of teachers from primary education in South Holland and Zeeland is growing by the minute in front of the Nieuwe Luxor Theater. They are ready for the demonstration in Rotterdam, during the last of a series of five relay strikes.
Former teacher group 4 and 5 Marcel Schoffelen makes his way through the assembled group and stands out with his homemade cube 'banner'. It lists what the workload consists of: teaching, testing, evaluating, reading e-mail, meeting. He has retired for a year and a half, but is still called up in dire need. Today he demonstrates for his former colleagues and his wife who still works at a primary school. He was also there at the national strike in The Hague. “All my colleagues need to be pushed in the right direction. The young people are shocked when they come to the front of the class. Arie, be a guy and give us that dividend ”, says Schoffelen.
Long string
When the two minutes are up, the procession slowly begins to move. The first demonstrators enter the Erasmus Bridge to start the 3,5 kilometer route to Het Park. Follow teacher teams with school flags in hand. A long string forms on the bridge, while large cargo ships with containers pass under it. Trams whiz across the bridge, passengers look curiously through the windows. In no time, the bridge is full of teaching staff.
“I am happy that there are so many people,” says teacher Corry Tas while walking. She works at the Cardinal Alfrinkschool in Waddinxveen. “The stretch is out for me,” she says. “The job is great fun, but I'm still thinking about quitting. It's too much and I have little time to pay attention to the students, ”she says with emotion in her voice. "This is really close to my heart."
The rack is out for me. The profession is super fun, but I'm thinking about quitting.
Despite the money that education minister Arie Slob has set aside for the workload agreement (430 million euros) and the teachers' salaries (270 million euros), the strikers notice that it is not enough yet. On the Erasmus Bridge, Johan Wesdorp, who demonstrates with his colleagues - "the director in front" - of De Bergse Zonnebloem: “It was Slob's first step, but it is not enough. We are undervalued.”
At the photographers and the rolling cameras, the demonstrators begin to roar. Even when the first colleagues come off the Erasmus Bridge and they see the whole procession of colleagues on the bridge, there is cheering.
Small step
Jorrit Koop works in secondary special education, which is also part of primary education. He came to Rotterdam with two colleagues. Regular secondary education sometimes beckons. “It's in my head. I enjoy teaching and it is only a small step to secondary education. Salary is important and it is not fair now. ” His colleague agrees: “Certainly in the first years it was a lot of fun. Then I sometimes thought at the end of the month: what am I doing this for now? I have a college education, work full-time, but then called my father because I couldn't make ends meet. ”
With her rainbow umbrella, internal counselor and teacher Corrie Brouwer is in the right place when some splashes fall. "Dual function," she says. "My school is called De Regenboog." Brouwer noticed the difference in salary between primary and secondary education when both her children started working in the different educational sectors. "My daughter in secondary education earned more than my son in primary education, even though he had been working there for some time."
My daughter in secondary education earned more than my son in primary education, even though he had been working there longer.
With a few short stops, the procession slowly continues along the Westerkade, where the water taxis pass by. Moments later, the beats can be heard in Het Park. Presenter Quintis Ristie has already announced that everyone can rest for a while. “But”, he says, “then we will go wild to let The Hague know that change is needed.”
Shipment
AObexecutive Eugenie Stolk says on the podium at the event that the educational staff, the support staff, the school leaders and the teachers, should receive more recognition and a fair salary. “This cabinet wants to discard education with a tip. Cross the bridge on Prinsjesdag ”, says Stolk. The teachers raise their umbrellas in agreement.
Just before she arrived at the event in Het Park, Corné Kaptein, who works in special education, hoped that this cabinet would give the two billion euros of the dividend tax to the public sector. "But, this politics doesn't like people."
Next Tuesday is Budget Day. Then it must become clear whether Slob comes up with extra money.
