Incomprehension about unexpected cuts
After more than a year full of actions and strikes in primary and special education, the cabinet is not coming up with new investments. In secondary vocational education and higher education, unexpected setbacks evoke the necessary grumpiness. An anthology of the responses.
Image: Valerie Kuypers
No new investments, however new setbacks. As was already known, education minister Arie Slob (ChristenUnie) will allocate an extra 270 million euros in primary education next year for teacher salaries and 237 million euros for reducing the workload.
In addition, 130 million euros will be invested in pre-school and early childhood education, and 70 million in technical pre-vocational education. 248 million euros is available for science and research. These are all amounts related to the coalition agreement that was presented a year ago.
At the same time, the percentage of our wealth that goes to education is falling, according to the macroeconomic surveys of the Central Planning Bureau (CPB). "The economy is growing, but education is not benefiting from it", responded AObchairman Liesbeth Verheggen yesterday.
Primary school
'With its budget for 2019, the government confirms the agreements it has already made for primary education, including in the coalition agreement. Thanks to the promised work pressure resources and extra money for salaries, the sector has now been able to take the first important steps to tackle the teacher shortage. on his website. The organization of school boards in primary education endorses the observation from the speech from the throne that the teacher shortage requires cooperation from all parties in education.
The voices from other educational sectors are clearly sharper. The cabinet presented new setbacks yesterday, which are the result of, among other things, higher numbers of pupils and students and higher expenditure on scholarships before the introduction of the student loan system.
In addition to the already booked and maintained cutbacks of 92 million euros in 2019 (and 183 million euros structurally), education ministers Slob and Ingrid van Engelshoven (D66) had to make up for a new deficit of 211 million euros for 2019. For the following years, there is still a gap of 114 million euros (rising to 160 million) in the budget. The government has postponed a solution for this to the next spring memorandum in 2019.
Mbo
Due to the new setback, the government will cut back 19,5 million on practical learning in 2019. That is approximately ten percent of the total subsidy pool. Moreover, it is uncertain whether the scheme will be continued after 2019, warn MBO schools and vocational education, united in the Cooperation Organization for Vocational Education Industry (SBB), in a joint statement.
'Incomprehensible that the government is now cutting back and putting tens of thousands of apprenticeships at risk. BBL students cannot start a study program without an apprenticeship. Precisely while we desperately need these well-trained professionals now and in the future', thus Ton Heerts, duo chairman of the SBB and chairman of the MBO schools.
Higher education
In the funding for higher education, 19,5 million euros will also be scrapped. "Unexpected and incomprehensible", chairman Thom de Graaf responds on the website of the Association of Universities of Applied Sciences. Just like the universities, the higher professional education institutions want to bring forward money that will be released by the introduction of the loan system. Higher education institutions are expected to improve education with these so-called 'student advance funds'. A limited part of this will become available for the time being in the coming years.
https://twitter.com/HM_de_Jong/status/1042127440770936832
“The cabinet is turning a deaf ear to the signals that it is jeopardizing the high quality of our education by making more cutbacks - and that in a time of economic growth,” said VSNU chairman Pieter Duisenberg in a reaction. “It is now clear to everyone that the system is under pressure. In order to maintain our top position, we must now invest. The extra cutbacks are a slap in the face of students and teachers and must therefore be dropped. ”
https://twitter.com/UvA_Amsterdam/status/1042059936136671233
Secondary education
The VO council, the representative of the secondary school boards, points to the new financial problems that will arise in 2020: the as yet uncovered budget gap of 114 million euros, rising to 160 million two years later. 'It is unclear whether this cutback applies to all sectors. If this target also applies to secondary education, this would be a pro rata cutback for secondary education, rising to 40 million in 2022. This would then come on top of the previously announced efficiency cut, rising to 47 million for secondary education in 2021.' reports the employers' organization.
