Millions of cuts in education will continue as usual
AObChairman Liesbeth Verheggen finds it incomprehensible that the cabinet is sticking to the so-called 'efficiency discount' on the OCW budget. In the coming years this will rise to 183 million euros.
Statue: AOb
Minister of Finance Wobke Hoekstra announced last week that he does not want to scrap the efficiency discount. This cut is planned because ex-minister Bussemaker and former state secretary Dekker have left a hole in the OCW budget. In the Senate, the motion to cancel the discount could count on a majority, thanks to the support of the D66 faction.
Multinationals
CDA minister Hoekstra states in a written explanation that the senate must see the measures in the coalition agreement as 'one package'. According to Liesbeth Verheggen, chairman of the AOb, the minister makes it clear where Rutte-3's priorities lie. "Clear path for the Netherlands as a tax haven, but a tight squeeze when it comes to good education." The minister himself makes the link between the two subjects, says Verheggen. “The tax savings of 1,4 billion euros for multinationals that reap mega profits are therefore certainly related to the choice to squeeze a sector that is struggling a little more.”
In his letter, Hoekstra points to the 1,7 billion euros in education money that will eventually be released in 2021. Verheggen: “But education is in dire straits in 2018. The workload is too high, the salaries are too low and the quality is under pressure. Education staff does what they can, but is simply with too few people to meet all the requirements. ”
Cautious recovery
De AObchairman disputes the image that the sector was at the forefront of the distribution of resources. "What people forget is that for years huge cuts have been made in the public sector, and therefore also in teachers' salaries." Last year, informateur Herman Tjeenk Willink announced that during the crisis 61 billion euros in spending space had been freed up by cutting back in the public sector. "If you let that enormous amount of money take effect, an education package worth ultimately 1,7 billion is, at best, a cautious start to recovery."
New strike
In the meantime, preparations for new actions in primary education are in full swing: February 14 there is a strike in the Northern Netherlands. “Because we still need 1,4 billion euros for primary education alone: 500 million euros for workload relief and 900 million euros for a better salary,” says Verheggen. Minister Slob regularly points from the Hoftoren to the Ministry of Finance. Hoekstra is in charge there and apparently does not see the urgency, despite the two national strikes and other actions so far in which almost all primary schools participated. Hoekstra's response makes it clear that campaigning remains necessary. '
Salary step-by-step plan
De Algemene Onderwijsbond has clear plans for the money. At the beginning of last year, the association published a short succession salary step-by-step plan and an workload manifest for primary education, secondary education and vocational education. Together they require an investment of 6 billion euros. In the spring of 2017, the union made additional proposals that should lead to a funding model with which money ends up where it belongs more quickly: in the classroom.
