Minister Bussemaker leaves the budget with a hole
In the coming years, education will be hundreds of millions short. In 2018, the Ministry of Finance will adjust half, so that the gap left by Bussemaker in the first year is 244 million euros.
In the years that followed, this problem rose to more than 400 million euros. The new cabinet must come up with savings plans for this.
The new Rutte III cabinet will be given a special assignment by Rutte II: making plans for cutbacks that will last through the entire new cabinet term. The decision on how to implement this will be left to the next cabinet. This was decided after consultation with the forming parties, 'Bussemaker writes in its latest education budget.
The problems have arisen due to higher student numbers, students who continue to study for a longer period of time and the budget cuts from previous years that have not yet been completed. In the first year of a new cabinet, about half of these items will be compensated by the Ministry of Finance, which means that there are still 244 million euros to be cut. In the following years, this will rise to over 400 million euros, after which it will decrease in later years.
Outstanding cuts in education
| 2018 | 244 million |
| 2019 | 415 million |
| 2020 | 410 million |
| 2021 | 338 million |
| 2022 | 182 million |
Source: National budget 2018, Ministry of Education, Culture and Science.
Raise
The cabinet is, however, making money available for an additional salary increase for primary school teachers, the 270 million euros that had already been leaked. If that amount were to be divided among all primary school teachers, that will come according to the Ministry of Education amounts to 3 percent more salary. This is in addition to the normal wage margin - for salaries and other terms of employment - which is estimated at 2018 percent for all education sectors in 2,2. How the extra space for wages is ultimately used is detailed in the collective labor agreements. The amount is not yet coming in the budget before, but is stated in a special memorandum of amendment later today has been published.
Educational disadvantage
Incidentally, primary education is still losing out on educational disadvantage policy. Because a new system for determining arrears has not yet been implemented, 50 million euros will be lost in primary education over the next five years, because there are fewer and fewer children who meet the old standards for arrears.
The introduction of the loan system is the first to generate money for higher education. In 2018, this is about 200 million euros. According to OCW, this amount is intended for small-scale intensive higher education and special programs for top talent.
