'We are scandalous with our education'
Eugenie Stolk, the new chairman of the AOb, will campaign hard for structural investments in education. “Do you really want to offer children equal opportunities? Then you have to invest in education. ”
Image: Angeliek de Jonge
In one week from vice president to president of the AOb: it happened to Eugenie Stolk when Liesbeth Verheggen recently stepped down. A conversation about her own educational experience, the teacher shortage and investments that are badly needed to stop the increasing inequality of opportunities.
Suddenly you are chairman of the AOb. How does that feel?
“Very double. It is of course great that I can be chairman of the most beautiful club in the Netherlands, which stands up for the people in education. But I find the sudden resignation of my predecessor Liesbeth Verheggen very sad. Brave, but sad. ”
Did you think about taking the job?
“I was of course already vice-chairman, and whoever says A must also dare to say B. But I was, because of family circumstances, just moved back to Groningen. Luckily my partner and kids told me to go for it. And well, then I only take the train from Groningen to Utrecht at XNUMX:XNUMX in the morning. More people do that. Moreover, I can also work for the union for two hours without being disturbed. ”
You have been with the union for a while.
“I started in 2002 as a teacher at a very small school in Groningen. We had three combination groups: 1/2/3, 4/5/6 and 7/8. I have taught students of all ages, although I liked upper secondary school the most. You can already have real discussions with students there. "
How did you end up with the union?
“In addition to my work as a teacher, I became a consultant for one day a week AOb. I went to primary schools in my area to hear what is going on. And to take action when something went wrong. A few years later, I became a teacher on the board of the AOb, as one of the first young women in a stronghold of mostly older men. Later, as district manager of the north, I visited many schools that had to be reorganized. Because due to shrinking student numbers, there were then - although it's hard to imagine that now - too many teachers. A lot of social plans had to be agreed.”
Image: Angeliek de Jonge
Then you joined the daily management of the AOb. So you are quite a meeting tiger.
“My husband passed away in 2016. Then I went through a period in which I didn't really see the point of what I was doing. I still read my email now and then, and there was a very nice email from one AObmember who was in danger of falling between two quarters during a reorganization. Thanks to the union and my personal actions he was given a new position and for that he thanked the AOb and me personally from the bottom of his heart. Then I realized again that my work makes sense. Helping people in difficult times: that matters.
And then I also dared to apply for the executive board. What could happen to me now? I had already passed the worst. Although I did not think that I would become chairman so soon. ”
What are your plans, chairman?
“I want to consult more with the members, get in touch with them more. That sometimes leads to discussions, you can see that our general meetings are becoming increasingly lively. But that's good, because I want us all to determine where we are going as an association. Although it is always exciting. ”
How exciting?
“As chairman and executive board you are always balancing. As an elected director, what can you decide for yourself and what decisions should you submit to your members? That is extremely difficult and does not always go well - as we have seen. But I intend to listen very carefully to the members.”
A solid association with elected directors, such as the AOb, is less agile, but has a lot of continuity
Does a group like PO in Actie do that better?
“We have learned a lot from PO in Action. Such as communicating - so not only sending, but also receiving and listening - via social media. Because with social media you can mobilize people very quickly, as the Occupy movement has also shown. On the other hand, such movements are fleeting. As a solid association with elected directors, such as the AOb, you are less agile, but you have much more continuity. We were there yesterday, we are there today and we will still be there tomorrow. ”
What do you like about your job?
“One of the nice things, though that may sound crazy, is visiting jubilees, people who have been members of the union for thirty, forty or fifty years. They often still have an enormous passion for education, even if they are eighty or ninety years old. And those are the people who, through their loyal membership, ensure that we can now call out strikes. ”
Well, the union is a gray stronghold.
“Don't forget: our membership is stable and our membership base is rejuvenating. We get a lot of new members who start their first or second job in education. We can continue to mean a lot to them for many years to come. ”
If we raise salaries now, of course, extra people will not start teaching tomorrow. But the day after tomorrow
What is the biggest threat to education in the coming years?
“Obviously the teacher shortage. We are now in a vicious circle. People in education have to work harder and harder to keep things together at their school. This increases the workload and makes the profession even less attractive, so that fewer people choose a job in education. We have to break that circle. Money is needed, money for a structural investment in raising wages and reducing the workload. Making the beautiful profession of teacher, teacher or support worker more attractive again.
And if we increase salaries now, extra people will of course not immediately enter education tomorrow. But the day after tomorrow. While, if we do nothing, we will not receive anything extra tomorrow and the day after tomorrow also nothing. So however you turn or turn it: it starts with money. ”
Who will pay that?
“Education is funded by the government. And he puts less and less money into it. We are now reaping the bitter fruits of this, with an enormous teacher shortage and plummeting results in areas such as language and reading, as the international Pisa research also showed. And with increasing inequality because the problems hit the hardest in schools with the most disadvantaged pupils. ”
So government: get over the bridge!
“To put it plainly, but indeed. If you want to be a society that really offers children equal opportunities, you have to invest in education. Those investments really need to be at the top of the election programs of the political parties. ”
I think that as a prosperous country we should not treat our education in this way
How do we get that done?
“With promotions. Our members are really desperate. The water is to their lips; just open the tin of clichés. But the reality is that teachers, teachers, support staff and school leaders no longer know how to get things done. While they see that this is at the expense of the children. I think that as a prosperous country we should not handle our education in this way, this is really scandalous. That is why we remain as AOb campaigning until there is really structural investment in education. ”
