Almost all schools in Friesland, Groningen and Drenthe are closed today
"The willingness to strike in the north of the Netherlands is still very high", assures Hayo Bolken. AObstrike coordinator in the north. He expects that almost all primary and special education schools in Friesland, Groningen and Drenthe will close their doors tomorrow.
Picture: Fred van Diem
Today's strike is the first in a series of relay strikes from the PO front, that is the unions AOb, CNVO, FNV and FvOV, supported by PO-inactie and the organizations of school leaders AVS and school boards PO-Council.
Manifestation
A manifestation will start at 13:00 in the Groningen Sugar Factory. The PO front is seriously concerned about the teacher shortage that became clearly visible during the recent wave of flu. In the coming years, the shortage will rise to 11.000 teachers in primary education if policy remains unchanged. Salary plays an important role in this. 'The level of the salary is a brake to opt for education,' stated the Education Council in 2013.
Earlier, in 2007, the Teachers Committee called for primary education salaries to be up to standard, so that young people remain interested in a career in primary education. The opposite happened: interest in a PABO training increased rapidly declining.
Salary gap
If this is to change, the salary must be raised to the level of secondary school teachers, Hayo Bolken emphasizes. The difference between the sectors rises to more than 25 percent. Such a large salary gap, according to research by the OECD, actually only occurs in Mexico, Costa Rico and the Netherlands. Within Europe no other country such a difference between primary and secondary school teachers.
Want to know more about the strike tomorrow? Read the press release here, or look up www.aob.nl / action winners.
