Part-timers are a stopgap for teacher shortages
Teacher sick? Raid pool empty? Then the school principal calls his part-timers. It is not a structural solution to the teacher shortage.
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Teacher Lisette Bisschops is on parental leave today. At least that was the plan. Instead, she just stands in front of group 6 of the Jozefschool in Hillegom. Because yes: a colleague was ill, the substitute pool is empty and her director called to ask Bisschops to come and work an extra day.
Fortunately for the school and the students, Bisschops' parents were able to look after her daughter for a day. So I go to school. Because I can't get it in my heart that we are sending the children home or that they have to be divided among other groups. ”
People work part-time for a reason
Teacher Lisette Bisschops. (Image: Fred van Diem)
Bisschops is not the only part-timer at her school who now works more days a week. Director André Hogervorst regularly asks his part-timers if they wanted to come to school for an extra day. "Every week it is a matter of debate to get all groups occupied." *Make the teacher shortage visible! On the website Lerarentekortisnu.nl you can quickly and easily report that there is a class without a teacher at your school today. Plus indicate what happens to that class: divide, send home or a replacement? Fill it in teacher shortageisnu.nl Hogervorst even used his wife and daughter, who work in secondary education and happened to have a day off when the need was high at his primary school. “But how will we be able to complete the occupation with the flu wave? I hold my heart. ”
Other schools are also trying to make extra use of their part-timers because of the teacher shortage. In fact, it is one of the most commonly used deficit stops, according to an inventory of the website teacher shortageisnu.nl: 17 percent of schools are making use of the extra use of part-timers, followed closely by 'dividing class' and 'sending class home'.
Minister Arie Slob sees the extra deployment of part-timers as one of the solutions to the teacher shortage, he writes to the Lower House. If the average working week in primary education is increased by half an hour, the minister calculated, that would create 760 extra jobs. That adds up nicely.
Recently, when the need was very high, I deployed my wife and daughter.
Primary school director André Hogervorst, his wife Astrid and daughter Quinty. (Image: Fred van Diem)
The question is of course: are part-timers able and willing to structurally work extra hours, half-days and days? That will be difficult, according to a Facebook poll by the AOb. To the question 'Why do you work part-time?' the most frequently chosen answer was 'Otherwise the work cannot be sustained because of the workload', followed by 'I already work full time, just not on paper' and 'I also take care of children, family and household'.
Hoppen
“As a solution to the teacher shortage, it is often mentioned that all teachers have to work a few hours longer,” says AObchairman Liesbeth Verheggen. “But these answers and our research into work pressure show that teachers have been working overtime for a long time. Moreover, many teachers work part-time for personal reasons, such as the balance between home and work. ”
“People don't work part-time for nothing: they often also have tasks in the family, says chairman Ingrid van Doesburg of the PRIMOvpr board. Her board, with about twenty schools in the Voorne-Putten region, will be mapping out in the coming months whether - and under what conditions - their part-timers would like to work more. One of the measures could be the provision of flexible childcare.
Fiscal
But the latter is easier said than done. The tax rules are complicated and above all: “If we now offer free or cheap childcare to part-timers, we will be short on the full-timers who have already arranged this themselves and will also pay for it themselves,” says Van Doesburg. So this must be carefully considered.
Research into the willingness of part-timers to work more is also conducted among the staff of the other schools in the Voorne-Putten region. “Boards are tackling this together,” says Van Doesburg. And, oh yes: extending the number of hours and days should always be voluntary, Van Doesburg emphasizes. Coercion is counterproductive. “I also want teachers who feel good about themselves. Moreover, such an obligation is not realistic in the current labor market. ” Because that can lead to 'hopping': those who are not satisfied with their board will have a different job with a different board.
Expenses
The Lower House is also examining the question of how part-time workers in education can be tempted to work more hours. Minister Slob has investigated whether it is feasible to pay part-timers more for a fourth or fifth working day. So no. "This would be a prohibited distinction according to working hours," he wrote to the House of Representatives. It is also not possible to enter a bonus for working extra hours. "Then a teacher who has been working for five days would be paid less than a teacher who works four days and goes to work an extra day."
As an experienced teacher, I consider almost 8 euros per hour as an expense allowance
Is there perhaps something to juggle with the tax rate? Because of our progressive tax system, part-timers who start working extra are left with less and less per hour. 'In recent months I have worked extra to prevent groups from having to be sent home,' a teacher writes AOb. 'I made an extra effort with love for the children. I was very disappointed when I received my salary, a considerable part of which was paid to the tax authorities. ' The teacher calculated that she received less than 8 euros per hour for the extra hours worked. 'As an experienced teacher, I consider that to be an expense allowance.'
Tamara Tamis, tax service employee of the FNV, hears the above complaint more often. But yes: “If people start working more, they will earn more and therefore pay more tax. As a result, they have less on it per hour. ”
Fewed
Tamis understands that people feel inadequate at first. But she can't make it any more fun either. And, well: “In our tax system, you are left with at least 60 percent of what you earn. Well, unless your salary is higher than 68 euros. But you have to do your very best for that. ”Chairman of the board Van Doesberg of about twenty schools in the Voorne-Putten region:“ Larger part-time jobs can help, but they are not enough to solve the teacher shortage. Something must also be done about the salary. And for that we look to The Hague. ”
