The intake of teacher training colleges is growing again
In the run-up to a political debate about the teacher shortage, the universities of applied sciences let us know how their programs are doing. The teacher training college is growing again this year, but the other teacher training programs are struggling.
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According to the Association of Universities of Applied Sciences, which has the latest figures Tuesday announced, teacher training colleges are doing everything they can to interest more people in a job in education.
For example, flexible learning routes have been developed in which students, depending on prior education and work experience, receive all kinds of exemptions and customization. Anyone who switches to education from another subject (side entrants) can obtain their teaching qualification within two years.
Increase
And yes, teacher training colleges now have more first-years: 8 percent more full-time students and 12 percent more part-time students. The number of side entrants also increased: from 160 to more than 400. That was allowed, because stricter enrollment requirements have been in place for three years and the teacher training colleges have seen the numbers of first-years drop drastically.
Second-level teacher training programs lost 6,5 percent of the intake
Second-grade teacher training is not doing as well. They lost 6,5 percent of the influx. One ray of hope is that the number of first-years in the short courses of German, chemistry and engineering has remained virtually unchanged. The intake also remained virtually stable in the first-grade teacher training courses (for teachers who want to teach in the upper years of HAVO and VWO).
Teacher shortage
On Thursday the House of Representatives will meet with the Ministers of Education about the teacher shortage. The Association of Universities of Applied Sciences is calling on politicians to apply for the subsidy side entrants significantly increase.
Furthermore, the universities of applied sciences are asking to encourage the 'Training in the school' program. In it, study programs and schools guide starting teachers in their new profession. This is badly needed, because 15 to 25 percent falls within a year of the starters as teachers and many more stop after that.
