Education is on strike en masse, thousands of strikers at demonstrations all over the country
Ten thousand strikers on Dam Square, traffic congestion in Rotterdam and also in Leeuwarden, Eindhoven, The Hague, Utrecht and the east of the Netherlands, thousands of teachers, educational supporters and school leaders were on their feet. Nobody in the Netherlands could ignore it: primary and secondary education were discontinued.
Picture: Fred van Diem
On stage in front of ten thousand teachers, supporters and other educational staff in Amsterdam AObdirector Tamar van Gelder that the solution to the problems in education should come from The Hague “If there is no structural funding, we will be back here very soon. If necessary, we will strike structurally. ”
AObdirector Tamar van Gelder: 'If necessary, we will strike structurally'
Returning presenter-on-duty Dolf Jansen reminds the flooded Dam of the earlier manifestations that mobilized many tens of thousands of people in the past two years. Like the one in it The Hague Zuiderpark (October 2017). Then Malieveld (March 2019) and the series of regional strikes in between. Well-attended meetings have been organized all over the country today. “Of course you are among the nicest here”, he jokes.
Looking forward
Leonie Gabel, teacher at Klavertje Vier primary school in Hoofddorp and school educator, together with a colleague from Almere, arrived early this morning on Dam Square. Structural investments are essential, argues Gabel. Minister Slob says he cannot spend money for the next term of office. What nonsense. If we make a school plan, this also applies for four years. You have to look further ahead instead of giving some extra money once. ” She hopes the message will get to The Hague.
Group teacher Geertje Schipper of OBS De Harpoen in Jisp also believes that something really needs to be done now. She is flanked by the youngest two of her children, twins from eighth grade. “Their group has already been sent home once this year because they had no one to teach. Three times last year. ” “The teacher was ill,” the daughter agrees. Her school is closed today, unlike her eldest son's high school, who is therefore not there now. “His school is not on strike. But the problems are also noticeable in secondary education. The gym teacher recently gave him Greek. ”
Group teacher Geertje Schipper: 'He recently received Greek from the gym teacher'
Schipper sees that the problems are particularly dire in the Randstad and wants a plan of action for the future. "If you look at the forecasts for the coming years, you see that structural measures are needed." One of the components of a plan should be closing the pay gap between primary and secondary education, several activists emphasize.
Meanwhile, involved parent and speaker Jeroen de Glas calls on the children present from the stage to make themselves heard. “Which one of you is a top priority? Mr. Rutte calls everything a top priority and if everything is a top priority, then it is apparently an afterthought. Mr. Rutte, our children are not an afterthought! ”
Concerned parent Jeroen de Glas: 'Mr Rutte, our children are not an afterthought!'
Jolanda van Metelen and Ines Grapendaal work in special primary education at SBO De Zeppelin in Amsterdam-Noord. A “shitty agreement”, Van Metelen calls the largely one-off money that Minister Slob promised last Friday. "It's a very small plaster on a very large wound." The pressure is only increasing, certainly also in special primary education. "The school is full, we have a waiting list."
Events all over the country
In many places in the country, teachers and other teaching staff made themselves heard today. Early in the morning thousands of teachers in Rotterdam marched to the Excelsior Stadium. Encouraged by a band with drums and banners in hand, the Erasmus Bridge was completely filled with teaching staff, traffic jams were the result. At the AObheadquarters in Utrecht also gathered a large group of strikers for the freeze at the Utrecht city office. They would literally stop there to draw attention to the problems in education. Also the AOb road shows in Enschede, Zwolle, Arnhem and Almere attracted a lot of teaching staff.
Leeuwarden
In Leeuwarden it was so busy at the manifestation in the WTC Expo that the entrance doors were blocked. Thousands of teachers and other teaching staff - the administrators estimate the number at about seven thousand people - wanted to take action. The team from primary school De Mienskip in Buitenpost was there. It has gradually become customary for them to stand in front of the classroom with a fever. “Because there is hardly any replacement available”, explains Aliza, a teacher in group 3 with 32 children, who enrolls in the school. The one-off amount of 460 million euros that was pledged last week is therefore not enough. “The agreement of Minister Slob is not my agreement. We want to pay for work. ”
Minister Slob's agreement is not my agreement. We want pay for work
Line up for the Chamber
Many strikers wanted to secure a place in the public gallery today to follow the education debate live in The Hague. It got so busy in front of the door that the police sent strikers away because they blocked the entrance, according to the NOS. Pieter Waterburg, teacher of English and music in secondary education, was one of the strikers for the Lower House. In his hand a sign with a sweet expression of support to Hetty. “She is a very good friend of mine who works in primary education. It is such a shame that primary education has become a drain. We in secondary education continue to build on their work. If they can't do their job properly, neither can we. ”
It is such a shame that primary education has become a drain
Two teaching assistants in training stood in line for the House of Representatives, but because of the crowds they fled to a nearby lecture hall of Leiden University to follow the debate. “A CKV teacher advised her own class to strike and join the strike somewhere on a square in the country. She is also on strike, the rest of our school is not, ”says Dinand van Peer. “Unfortunately I did not receive an exemption for it. But I am learning more today than on a normal Wednesday. ”
Eindhoven
In the south of the country it was crowded at the Effenaar to get in. A maximum of 400 people can fit in the hall, but almost two thousand strikers were still standing outside following the program on a screen. It's a bit blue in front of the pop stage, but that doesn't bother ib'er Engelbert Zoontjes. He points to his new colleague who is standing next to him. "Fortunately, just before the summer we managed to get Kevin as a group teacher, but recently I was in front of the class myself because there was no substitute."
Teachers across the country are noticing that the stretch is now out. One of the teachers on the action stage in Amsterdam expressed that feeling like this: "Although it is not in our hearts to be tough, I say: we should stop doing what we cannot do."
