Primary education salary is on the rise insufficiently
The growth to higher salary scales in primary education has been minimal in recent years. Agreements have not been fulfilled, while the teacher shortage in primary education will continue to increase in the coming years.
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The teacher shortage in primary education is rising sharply. In 2018, the shortage is expected to be around 1300 FTEs; in 2023 this will increase to over 4600 FTEs. This is evident from the Labor market analysis primary education 2018 of the Labor Market Platform PO.
The teacher shortage will be greatest in Amsterdam, Rotterdam and the Rijnmond region in the coming years. The labor market for management and support staff is also tightening.
Many teachers are retiring, while the influx of new teachers is decreasing
The shortage is growing because many teachers will retire in the coming years, while the influx of new teachers is decreasing. The number of authorized persons is expected to decrease by more than 2017 percent in the period 2023-8. Parallel to this development, the drop in pupils will be less pronounced in the coming years than a few years ago. The number of students will drop by about 2018 percent between 2023 and 3. There are also areas where the number of students is increasing.
Function mix
Although it is important to attract more teachers, school boards have not achieved the job mix objectives in recent years. This growth from salary scale LA to LB, agreed in 2008 in the Teacher Covenant, was further stalled in 2017. Where 40 percent of teachers should have been in scale LB, in 2016 only 26 percent were in that scale. In 2017 this was 'over' 26 percent; a minimal increase. In special primary education, the distribution of teachers across the various salary scales has also remained virtually the same. There is a slightly larger share of teachers in scale LA and LC, at the expense of the share in LB. More than in regular education, special primary education has achieved the function mix objectives.
Promotion
In new collective labor agreement which came into effect in September, the money that was reserved for the job mix (but was not spent on it) was used in the new salary structure for teachers. Scale LA no longer exists, starting teachers will from now on end up in L10; a scale comparable to LB. Whoever was in LB is now in L11. The Labor Market Platform PO is not immediately flying the flag. 'The question is what this will mean in practice for the promotion (criteria) of teachers', the researchers write.
A large majority of teachers experience a lot of work pressure
Primary education employees are generally satisfied with their jobs. However, work pressure remains a point of attention. A large majority of teachers experience a lot of work pressure and starting teachers also experience a lot of stress. The researchers from the Labor Market Platform PO warn that this is not only problematic for current teaching staff. 'For example, a high perceived workload will not only affect the employability of the personnel, but also, for example, the image of the sector in society, so that potential personnel will ignore the sector.
