Manifesto: Every child a qualified teacher in 2030
Every child must be taught by a qualified teacher by the year 2030. The Dutch government must commit itself to this. That's what the AOb, Parents & Education and Defense for Children.
Every child has the right to a good education AOb, Parents & Education, Defense for Children and other organizations in a manifesto. 'And a qualified teacher for the class is essential. That is why we call on the government to provide enough qualified teachers.'
On Friday, February 3, about 250 people came to the Amsterdam statue of Theo Thijssen to protest against plans by Amsterdam school administrators.
For teacher Marjon of primary school De Polsstok in Amsterdam-Zuidoost, the measure is full. Her school board Zonova was one of three school boards that in Het Parool explained what they think education should look like for at least the next five to ten years.
To prevent children from being sent home due to the continuing teacher shortage, three administrators sketched a picture of even more lessons by professionals who do not have a teaching qualification. The contingency plans from 2020 therefore take on a more structural character.
Miss Marjon from Polsstok primary school.
The plans evidence of contempt for her profession and for the students, says Marjon. "Drivers apparently have no idea what it takes to teach our children the necessary knowledge. I don't want to make any more concessions on quality. It's just now started. The children are at stake. That concerns me very dear to my heart."
Thijs Roovers, director for the AOb, was until recently also a teacher in the upper years of an Amsterdam primary school. "I was drawing up school recommendations and knew that I could have given these children a higher recommendation if they had had a qualified teacher the years before. That was the moment I decided: I will work full time for the union. We can do this Do not accept."
Amsterdam alderman for education Marjolein Moorman was surprised by the plans and said during the demonstration: "I was shocked by the plans. This should never be the future perspective."
The teacher shortage is not a crisis, but a neglected problem
Moorman does not call the teacher shortage a crisis but a 'neglected problem'. "We've known this was coming for a long time." The visibly emotional teacher Mohammed Guellaï adds: "An emergency plan must remain an emergency plan. There is a passed parliamentary motion which states that lessons by unauthorized persons are not teaching time. And now this. I want a minister who takes control! If you start working with unauthorized persons on a structural basis, either the quality will deteriorate or you will burn these people out."
Linda, Anissa and Guido from primary school de Springplank.
Guido also came to the event with two colleagues. He teaches group 3 five days a week. His school - De Springplank in Amsterdam-West - is closing. Because the number of pupils is getting too low, but also because of the teacher shortage. "In our team, enthusiastic lateral entrants stand in front of the class, the education support assistant teaches so that she doesn't get to do her own work, and at the same time we try with all our might to continue to achieve the targets for the children. It's a tight squeeze."
A face
Education Minister Dennis Wiersma left this week with the TV program good morning Netherlands as in the House of Representatives know that he sees nothing in a future scenario with more education by people who have not followed the right education for this. Wiersma: "At school you lay the foundation for the future. I really believe that it stands or falls with a good and permanent teacher, with one face that teaches you the basics. (...) That does not mean a continuously changing pool of faces."
He continues: "And if that is already an emergency measure - because it is very strict and subject to conditions - then it is not desirable that it becomes the standard at all." De Volkskrant wrote today that it remains unclear whether the classic educational image with one teacher in front of the classroom in Amsterdam — according to the Amsterdam administrators — will actually disappear: 'The administrators do not want to respond to further questions from de Volkskrant.'
Read it out too interview in newspaper Trouw with Thijs Roovers, in which he explains, among other things, what should be done. “If this continues, there will be bigger actions. The government is responsible, but we need everyone to tackle this major problem,” says Roovers van de AOb. “The politicians, the employers and us: parents, children, the children's rights organization and the people who work in education. Of course we are ready to help and get involved.”
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