The teacher shortage is on the rise worldwide
The teacher shortage is on the rise worldwide. Other countries are trying to solve it with side entrants, better pay for starters and big city bonuses. Columbus's egg has not yet been found anywhere.
Picture: Nina Maissouradze
The new right-wing government of nationalists, liberals and Christian Democrats in Flanders made education number one in the coalition agreement last autumn. Because: 'Excellent education is the most important lever to develop every talent and to make collective progress as a society.'
It sounds good and is badly needed. Flanders also has a rapidly growing teacher shortage. Student numbers are rising and the number of teacher training graduates is falling. There are already shortages, but in 2028 this will rise to XNUMX teachers without intervention, about fifty-fifty divided between primary and secondary education. With slightly declining scores in Pisa and other international studies, the coalition government is concerned about the quality of education.
The measures proposed by the Flemish coalition are familiar. More side entrants, better guidance for starters, a permanent job faster, less plan load to deal with the workload. Those who switch from business to education will receive three extra starting periods.
Pamphlet talk
But are these plans, virtually a copy of Dutch policy, effective?
“Pamphlet talk”, is how Nancy Lilbert, general secretary of the trade union Acod Onderwijs, summarizes the policy of the right-wing government in Flanders. "There is nothing concrete yet to tackle the teacher shortage, but there are many empty promises."
The Flemish unions went on strike in March last year and asked for an investment plan of 1,8 billion euros, after two government periods with cutbacks. “We don't want Dutch situations. The government is screening with a wage increase, but it was less than 1 percent. The policy letter from the Minister of Education does contain a lot of text, but we still see too few measures. ”
bru
Flanders is certainly not the only country struggling with rapidly growing shortages. The OECD, the club of rich industrialized countries, points in the annual Education at a glance over and over again on the rapidly aging teacher population. For example, it takes an awful lot of effort for England to retain teachers. At least 15 thousand secondary school teachers gave up in the past two years, which became visible in the form of larger classes. In America, the situation differs per state, but in the majority there is the nasty combination of a declining interest in the teaching profession and an increase in the number of students.
We do not want Dutch conditions
In America there are fierce experiments with tricks to recruit more teachers. Stopping teaching mainly happens for 'personal reasons'. The care of children is the primary personal reason. Now that the focus is on the inflow of young people, investing in childcare therefore seems smart. A number of school districts in Illinois and Indiana do that in the US. Sometimes with extra leave after the birth, usually with childcare next to the school, which opens earlier and closes later than the school itself. It works, is the experience in Illinois: young people stay, take full-time jobs more often and are satisfied with the reception being so close to their work.
Tiny house
Many teachers in the US have a hard time finding homes. So arose in a school district in California Casa del maestro, housing blocks with an attractive rent for teachers, close to school. In North Carolina, with the lowest teacher salaries in the US, the state pays for such projects. Arizona puts on pieces of land tiny houses down. It works, teachers come under roof for a reasonable price. The interest in cheap housing is greater than the supply. There is also criticism: if education pays better, teachers can look for a house themselves instead of living in a teachers' village.
Fly in
English recruiters scour Spain: there is still a surplus of teachers there. Especially teachers of English, French and Spanish are in demand. Foreigners are also welcome for science subjects. England has a tradition in that regard. There have always been young people from Australia, Canada or New Zealand who wanted to work in England for a few years. But that is not good enough to make up for the current shortages there. Moreover: many foreign teachers return home at some point when the labor market improves there.
Side entrants
Lateral influx in the Netherlands is growing rapidly, a success that is rightly celebrated. In Flanders they want to start with it. In the US they have years of experience with it alternative certification programs. Researchers have noted that the teaching staff is becoming more diverse: more people with color, men and people with a special prior education. The disadvantage is that the side entrants in the US leave the profession more often and faster than their colleagues from a regular teacher training college.
Free childcare, a welcome bonus, a cheap house: it's all about money
Meanwhile, something else has been added: teacher training as a paid job, a traineeship. In California some school boards organize this together with courses, in Mississippi the state is tackling it on a larger scale in places with large shortages in disadvantaged schools and special education. After selection, the students receive a free training, work as a 'shadow teacher' with an experienced colleague and receive a salary.
Big City Bonus
Just old hard cash, the business magazine concluded Fortune the English approach together to get more teachers. The British love bonuses. There has been a big city bonus for London for a long time, where living and housing is almost priceless. It works and it doesn't: there are more teachers in London, but the surrounding municipalities are being drained. In the previous turn-of-the-century deficit crisis, young people were given one after graduating from education golden hello, a welcome bonus of a few thousand pounds. This approach was used again two years ago for the very worst shortage subjects in secondary education.
Stay bonus
Last fall there was one stay bonus Bee. Because after collecting the starting bonus, many teachers left after all. Previous small-scale experiments have shown that a stay bonus works longer. In the meantime, the government has announced another step to tackle the crisis: significantly increasing starting salaries in and outside London. Quite nice, say the education unions in unison, but the government must also make continuing to work in education more attractive. "The wage increase for experienced teachers can hardly keep up with inflation." In other words: on balance it does not really make the profession more attractive.
golden hello
All solutions that are being tried worldwide have one common component: it is about money. Free childcare, a golden hello, a cheap house. It is all directly or indirectly a contribution to a higher income. What all countries also have in common is that, despite this, the influx to teacher education is declining or, at most, recovering slightly. In any case not enough to make up for the impending shortages in the next five years.
Underpaid
'There is one simple fact,' writes education economist Eric Hanushek Education Week. "American teachers are woefully underpaid." Nevertheless, things are still going relatively well in education because, according to him, many people are taking up the challenge of teaching 'out of love for children'. But that is not enough for the future. Hanushek: 'I think citizens are prepared to pay much better salaries to good teachers who prepare our students for the global economy.'
