Primary school staff in particular got corona

Tekst Joëlle Poortvliet - redactie Onderwijsblad - 16 november 2021 - 5 Minuten om te lezen

Image: Pixabay

Weekly the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) shows how many education and childcare employees have tested positive for corona. At the request of the Education Magazine, RIVM further split this data. Compared to the total number of people employed in the sector, liep 23 percent vand primary school staff contracted corona at some point in the past year and a half.

Officially infected

That is considerably more than the average Dutch person between the ages of 18 and 69. Of them, 14 percent became officially infected in the past year and a half. In secondary education, pre-university education and senior secondary vocational education (RIVM) collects these together, approximately 7 percent of employees have officially become infected.

The RIVM's categorization makes it difficult to draw conclusions about personnel in secondary education, special education and senior secondary vocational education. It seems plausible that MBO employees will reduce the share, because MBO has been closed to students and employees for longer and more often than VO and VSO since the start of the pandemic.

RIVM explains about higher professional education and the universities, which at 6 percent appear even less in the official infection figures: “These staff have been working from home for much longer and more. That can lead to less positive tests. Because of fewer contacts, or because they do not have themselves tested in case of mild complaints because they still work from home.”

Education needs more protection

Discussie

In addition to the latest measures wil AOb-chairman Tamar van Gelder that the focus will again be on educational activities, such as during the previous lockdowns. “Education needs to be more protected. Extra visitors to the school – such as parents – entail additional risks of contamination. So no galas and other festivities for a while. Moreover, we regularly hear that teachers have to discuss with parents who, against all guidelines, still bring their heavily coughing child with complaints to school. That is really too much to ask at this time.”

There are also still concerns about ventilation, which is not in order in many places. Van Gelder: “It is incomprehensible that school boards continue to claim that it is a priority, while it is still not regulated in so many places. It's winter, we can't manage with an open window and in some cases the window can't even open. “

Passed away

Less is known about hospital admissions and deceased teachers or support staff. Hospitals do not have to report this to the RIVM. NICE Foundation reports daily how many patients with covid-19 are in hospital and intensive care units, but does not keep track of the sectors in which these people may be employed.

The Ministry of Education only seems to consider infections among all educational staff. In a Q&A about the current corona measures states: 'Infection rates among education staff have been lower than the national average throughout the pandemic. The vaccination rate is high among teachers, and more and more students in secondary education are getting vaccinated.' The average of all education sectors is indeed slightly lower than the national average, but primary schools stand out considerably.

63 percent of teaching staff went through the test lane at least once

Loyal testers

The Central Bureau of Statistics showed in June already pointed out that educators, from primary education to universities, are loyal testers. Of all the professional groups, they are most often tested by the GGDs. 63 percent passed the test line at least once in the period from August 2020 to April 2021.

It is not easy to determine whether educational staff contract the virus while working, according to the RIVM: "On average, we are aware of the infection setting of 30 percent of all positively tested people from education."

booster shot

Tamar van Gelder AOb: “The thought of a third booster injection is now getting closer. We want to ensure that education can continue as much as possible and that no students are victimized. After all, we are already dealing with a shortage of teachers and the flu that is going around."

The December issue of the Education magazine contains interviews with teachers who contracted long covid. Do you want the Education magazine in your letterbox every month? Become a member!

Calculation

Editor's note: The above calculation was adjusted on December 3rd. An earlier version contained a calculation error. This has been corrected, with the result that the percentages positive are slightly higher than in the original message.

Sources

• RIVM, weekly report from November 2, 2021, chapter 13.10 – broken down by education staff at the request of the Education Magazine.
• DUO, VSNU and the VH, staff numbers for the year 2020.
• CBS Statline, labor force between the ages of 18 and 69 in 2020.

Assumptions and working method

• The actual numbers of infections will be higher, because large-scale testing has only been happening since June 2020. For many positive testers it is unknown in which sector they work. In addition, not everyone is tested and people sometimes go through an infection without being aware of it.
• In 2021, the workforce will have grown somewhat compared to 2020, but too little to have a significant influence on this calculation.
• RIVM attributes employees to special education schools for children up to and including the age of 12 to the category 'primary schools'. Personnel from secondary special education are grouped into secondary education and senior secondary vocational education. Government agencies do not know how many people work in secondary special education and how many in special education (up to the age of 12). The total number of these two groups in 2020 (27071 people, source: DUO) is divided equally (50% / 50%) over 'primary schools' and 'secondary education, VSO and MBO' in the above calculation. Even if the actual distribution deviates considerably (eg 35% / 65%), the stated conclusions still hold.
• Some people get corona twice. The RIVM says about this on its website: 'Re-infection is rare in SARS-CoV-2. About 1 to 2% of people with a positive corona test have previously tested positive for the virus. This has no effect on the outcome of the calculation.

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