Replacement pools are more likely to sell no
Replacement pools more often disappoint schools because of the teacher shortage. Especially with short-term replacements it is difficult to find substitutes. Substitutes move on to the permanent formation of affiliated school boards. The influx into the pools is lagging behind.
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“We have noticed that the short-term replacements are under pressure and we cannot provide for all requests,” says coordinator Kassandra Mol of Poolwest. This substitute pool serves more than two hundred schools in The Hague, Leiden and Zoetermeer, among others. At the beginning of this year, a third of the substitute workers left for the affiliated school boards. Mol: “That transfer is of course fantastic. Only the new influx is lagging behind. ”
We now need all the people to fill these questions
In the East Netherlands, at the Staff Cluster East Netherlands (PON), which serves some 120 primary schools, they also suffer from the teacher shortage. Team leader Hans te Lindert of PON says that they more often sell no to the affiliated schools. At PON, the temporary pool decreased from three hundred teachers three years ago to a hundred teachers today. The number of 'unresolved requests' rose to over 1200 in 2017-2018. In the previous school year, there were 750 requests that were not met, Te Lindert emails. At PON many 'permanent poolers', people with a permanent contract, solve the short-term replacements. 'We now need all the people to answer these questions. On some days that doesn't work anymore. '
Capacity
Charony Anthony, director of the regional transfer center Cella in the Gouda region, had to disappoint schools in the second week of this school year. “We are always looking for new people. The substitutes from our flex pool often make long-term replacements and then find a job at the school they fill in, ”says Anthony. “The number of FTEs for teachers doing individual replacements also decreased by just over half. “Everyone moves on to the permanent formation. That's fantastic and the reason our raid pool started. Only our capacity is therefore less. ”
Marjolein Grin, who works for the Haarlemse Salomo school group and project manager at regional transfer center De Beurs (Haarlemmermeer), to which 135 primary schools are affiliated, explains that their replacement pool was once started to absorb shrinkage and surplus. “But there is no shrinkage. We are increasingly unable to meet all requests for short-term replacement. In September it was not too bad, but it starts now. ”
Side entrants
The replacement pools Cella and Poolwest are now looking at whether they can attract side entrants to supplement their pool. But Mol from Poolwest says that the intake of teacher training colleges is insufficient. "Too few people have been trained in recent years."
We must be careful not to exploit these people
School principals divide the classes, ask part-timers to work more or ask IB staff to stand in front of the class if no substitutes are found. Director Anthony: “Sometimes we deploy a substitute for three days. That is the agreement, but then I hear that it was secretly asked to also work Friday. We must be careful not to rob these people. It is of no use if they get sick. ”
