Father of two daughters in action against teacher shortage
Jeroen de Glas, father of two daughters who are taught for four days, takes action against the teacher shortage. He calls on other parents to come to Malieveld and to submit an enforcement request for compulsory education in their municipality. "We are a rich country, five days of good education should be possible."
Image: Michel Satoer
His video with a call to action has already been viewed more than 17 times via social media. 'What is happening now is not enough. We don't want a four-day school week. ' Last week, De Glas launched the website novierdaagse.nl in which he shares all action tips with parents.
Homework assignment
Since the Christmas holidays, De Glas has experienced what a four-day lesson week means. Primary school De Tamarinde, where both his daughters attend, was forced to switch to a four-day lesson week because they had one teacher short. De Glas: “My oldest daughter from group 5 is at home on Monday, the youngest on Tuesday. They are given homework assignments and my wife and I then teach them ourselves. ”
In practice, you already have the fourth discussion with your child about homework at eleven o'clock
De Glas stays at home on Mondays and his wife works at home the next day. "Actually I have study leave that day, but I don't get around to that." Teaching yourself is particularly difficult. “The roles are mixed up and I explain it differently than the teacher and I am not very good at it. In practice you have the fourth discussion with your child about homework at eleven. ”
Enforcement Request
That is why the father is now taking action. In his own municipality of Zaanstad, he and a group of parents made an enforcement request to the attendance officer. “Children can claim their right to education. All enforcement requests panicked the town hall. They have to do something with those requests. ” He shares a step-by-step plan on how other parents can do this on the website. "We ourselves walked to the town hall in a procession."
“It is amazing that we have known for ten years that this shortage is coming, but that nothing is happening. The minister really needs to come up with a plan. Parents often react with resignation when their child has to go home for a day, but that's how it started with us last year. I want to warn parents now. It's a gigantic problem. They must harass the local government as much as possible and come to the Malieveld on March 15."
