Work pressure chases people over XNUMX out of the classroom

Tekst Robert Sikkes - Redactie Onderwijsblad - 27 juni 2019 - 6 Minuten om te lezen

Picture: Type tank

'I'm almost 63 now, I really enjoy working full-time with the group every day, but after the working day the energy is gone. Then I want to go home, with my legs up and to bed early so that I can give the children everything that is needed the next day, fresh and cheerful.'

This is how a primary school teacher describes her working week. It is one of more than 4.500 participants the research*De AOb asked research agency Regioplan to examine when, how many and why people over 13 leave education. More than 1962 thousand members, born before 36, were invited to participate in May, of which 47 percent completed the survey. 34 percent of participants come from primary education, 19 percent from secondary education and 78 percent from secondary vocational education. 15 percent of them teach, 6 percent work as a support worker and XNUMX percent are managers. View the report through this link. that Regioplan carried out among working sixty-plus members of the AOb in primary, secondary and secondary vocational education. The response was high: no less than 36 percent participated. Thousands filled in the open-ended questions to share their struggles.

This produces a very diverse picture. Yes, members would rather retire earlier, but no, that is not financially possible for many. Or as someone from MBO puts it: 'I would prefer to stop at 62, but that is not financially feasible now. If I win the lottery, I will absolutely not proceed. '

"If I win the lottery, I will definitely not continue"

Sickness Benefits Act

Work has become so hard for some teachers that they have taken jobs as an assistant, clerk or janitor. Or they end up in the sickness insurance scheme because of a burnout, heart complaints or worse.

A handful of school boards offer a generational pact to give the elderly the opportunity to get out financially and in terms of work pressure. But then again there are school boards in all three sectors - often in shrinking areas - who try to discharge older people with a somewhat soft or harder urge through a combination of early retirement and a small amount extra. All in all, it is not a cheerful story that the over-XNUMXs from the study put down.

Infographic: Percentage of people in their sixties per education sector who indicate in the Regioplan study that they want to stop working earlier.

The survey clearly shows that seniors - be it teachers, support staff or directors - are keen to leave school earlier. In all three sectors, more than half want to stop before the AOW takes effect. And there may be more if it can be financially.

Infographic: Percentage of people in their sixties per education sector who indicate in the Regioplan study that work pressure is the most important reason for quitting earlier.

About a quarter (primary) to a third (secondary and secondary vocational education) stop at the state pension age. Only a small part, around 3 percent, wants to continue working after that. And then there is the 9 (secondary) and 14 (primary) percent of doubters, who have not yet decided when they will stop.

Finish line

According to AObchairman Verheggen shows this research that many people have trouble reaching the finish line fit. "You keep charging yourself for the children in your class, but it's actually almost impossible to do. It's important that we make agreements in our collective labor agreements. Teaching is a tough profession if you really want to do it well. The large classes, the problems with suitable education cause a high workload. We have to be more economical with the people who continue to work until they retire."

AObchairman: 'You keep charging yourself for the children in your class, but it's actually almost impossible to do. It is important that we make agreements in our collective agreements'

Thousands of jobs

Just because of the departure of the thousands AObmembers, many jobs will become available for teachers, support staff and directors in primary, secondary and secondary vocational education in the next two years. Until now, the average retirement age has risen rapidly from around 60 to 64. It is not yet entirely clear how this will work out under the pension agreement, but it is certain that large groups of 62-year-olds (49%) and 63 and 64-year-olds (53 %) have already completed their retirement plans. 65 percent of the 84-year-olds and of the now relatively small group of 65-year-olds, almost everyone will leave this summer.

Regioplan calculated how this could work out for the entire workforce in the three education sectors in the next two years. It concerns more than 25 thousand people for all the teaching staff together. Because not everyone works full-time, this means more than 17 full-time jobs. The majority of these are teachers, especially in primary education. In all sectors, around 7 percent of all employed teachers, 8 percent of support staff and 13 percent of managers leave. In primary education, nearly 5.500 jobs for teachers and more than 1.100 jobs for school principals will become available in those two years. When the researchers look at the outflow at the teacher training colleges, the schools are then about a thousand full-timers short.

mismatch

These calculations are more difficult in secondary education. It is true that there are more graduates from teacher training courses than vacancies arise, but the researchers point to the mismatch per subject. For example, it is known from other sources that there are few students in the exact sciences and languages, while there are many young people in gymnastics courses and in art subjects. In MBO it is even more difficult to make an estimate due to the large influx of subject teachers from the business world and the lack of specific MBO teacher training courses.

The respondents see worrying trends and wonder whether their school can complete the formation in the coming years. A coordinator of a technical college of technology sees that his school (VMBO-MBO) has hired many people from the business world who have yet to master the teaching profession. The vacancies have been filled, but he wonders whether the quality was good enough in the early years. An MBO teacher notices that his students dread the enormous number of entrance tests for the teacher training college. 'Three of my students dropped out for that reason. They are going to study something else. I understand the requirements for language and arithmetic, but not for other subjects. ' One respondent points out that there are far too few students in his or her region for the Dutch teacher training program (for secondary education and MBO) to fill all vacancies. 'My intern is graduating for Dutch at the HVA with only 7 students for the whole of North Holland!'

All the results of the survey can be found in the final report of Regioplan via this link. This story was also in the Education magazine of July. AObmembers receive the sheet every month on mat.