Teacher shortage hit the Almere school for special primary education hard
One group disbanded, seven groups with a four-day school week and part-time workers who started working full-time to keep the school running. The teacher shortage is hit hard at primary school De Watertuin in Almere for special education. “Since the Christmas holidays, I've been working five days instead of three,” says Melanie Rijnbeek, group 3 teacher. This prevents her class from also switching to a four-day school week.
Picture: type tank
“I started teaching because I want every child to be seen”, Rijnbeek says passionately. “They have the right to education. If my students in group 3 already switch to a four-day lesson week, they will fall even further behind the regular students. ”
Rijnbeek is a teacher at De Watertuin in Almere, a school for special primary education where students with learning and behavioral problems attend. It is a school where about seventy staff members work and there are 21 classes.
Emergency measures
School is next week closed on January 30 and 31. They are on strike, because the teacher shortage is also hit hard here. In September all groups started with a teacher, but the trouble started just before the Christmas holidays. Rijnbeek lists the emergency measures, the most radical of which is the cancellation of a combination group 7/8. “A teacher found another job and the sixteen students from this combination class are divided over the rest of the upper years. That's four groups 7 and three groups 8. It means that my colleagues now have fuller classes. ”
A combination group 7/8 has been discontinued. It means that my colleagues now have fuller classes
In addition, since the Christmas holidays there have been a total of seven groups with a four-day lesson week, Rijnbeek explains. Some groups do not have lessons on Mondays, other classes are free on Wednesdays or Fridays. “Our management is top notch and keeps things going. They do everything possible. There is only nobody to be found. Everyone has already been deployed, including the ib'er. It is so sad for the students. We make videos, promote our school and there are occasional applicants, but in special primary education it is simply more difficult to find someone. ”
Full time
Rijnbeek herself - despite her busy private life - went from three to five days of teaching. Her duo-colleague was asked to step in to another group, which would mean that her group 3 would also have to switch to a four-day teaching week. She wanted to avoid that. “The intention is that I will work full-time until spring break, but of course we don't know how long this will take. It has never been my wish to work full-time, but I do it now because I give my champs a good education.”
It has never been my wish to work full-time, but I do it now because I give my champs a good education
Signal
Many teachers at the school are tired. “We do everything we can to keep the school running, everyone is working on that, but I do think the profession should become more attractive. The work pressure is too high. ” On 30 and 31 January the school is therefore once again sending a signal to the cabinet.
