Cao primary education is a block to the leg of VSO schools
Special secondary education (VSO) receives 16,5 million euros annually for salary improvement. But the collective labor agreement for primary education is still a hindrance to the sector. Vso schools should be transferred to secondary education, according to teachers.
Image: Angeliek de Jonge
In a classroom of a school building just outside the ring road in Amersfoort, twelve pairs of eyes are fixed on Jessie (not her real name *). She explains what she expects from a good teacher. “A teacher at this school must be able to help children when they stop. Sometimes I close completely and then I can't pull it anymore. Then it is nice if you have a teacher who can listen to you well. And he says: 'take your time' when I leave the classroom for fifteen minutes. ”
It is very quiet, a special moment during an exciting group discussion with students from the upper secondary department of the Amersfoort Axia College. Most students who have joined are in an exam class this year. Jessie hopes to become a teacher. Another would like to go to university. A third has already received an invitation from a technology study. They are young people with ambitions, dreams, a future.
We have internalizing and externalizing problems here. The first goes to cry in a corner and the second starts throwing chairs
And with a manual. The Axia College is a cluster 4 school for special secondary education (VSO) where students with a mental disorder or behavioral problems can go. Some of the students have been diagnosed with some form of autism. “We have internalizing and externalizing problems here,” Meike shouts from the back seats. "The first will sit in a corner and cry and the second will throw chairs." If you start throwing chairs, you will definitely get a red card and a green card for a short time-out, Bram adds, but he will come back to it later. “Suppose you have trouble with social situations and you have emotions that swing back and forth. At this school, teachers are flexible, they can move with the student. ”
Ladder
The Axia is a school that students usually do not choose themselves, but that is chosen for them. The road they travel, their history and baggage, is different for everyone. But what many of them have in common is that they've already hit a wall - or more often than she likes - on the way. One day they stand on the sidewalk with experiences of failure in their backpack.
We all consciously chose these students, say the teachers who crawled into the school desks an hour earlier to tell their story. “It is very grateful, you really get a kick when you see students go from here to here,” says Irene van Montfort, English teacher, while her hands make a ladder in the air.
It gives me great satisfaction when I see a student exceed their own expectations. Then it feels like I also transcend myself a little bit
“The valleys are deeper, the peaks higher”, history teacher Jeroen Meijers adds. He has been devoted to the school since 2012. Meijers tells about a student with psychological problems who came from a clinical setting and who experienced a relapse during the corona lockdown period last spring. “You feel someone slip through your fingers, that's awful. On the other hand, it is very satisfying when I see a student exceeding their own expectations. Then it feels like I also transcend myself a little bit. ”
That does not happen automatically. Yes, the classes are smaller in special education, and there is more support from remedial educationalists, for example, than in regular schools. But the differences between students within a group are often greater. You differentiate much more here, the teachers argue. “It is important that you are well above the material,” says biology teacher Nanda van Hoek-Kreuger. "Students ask questions about my subject that no one else would ask." And they can really get into a subject. At three o'clock in the morning she received a scientific article by e-mail from a student: "I secretly thought that was very nice."
It is important that you are far above the material. Students ask questions about my subject that no one else would ask
Pupils at a VSO school rely heavily on the social pedagogical skills of the team. In addition, teachers and mentors maintain regular contact with parents and any healthcare authorities. At the same time, in the diploma-oriented graduation profile, they work through the regular curriculum on the way to a full diploma, at most VSO schools on the basis of state exams. Meijers calls it a dual mission: to prepare students for society and for the transition to further education, where there is often no fine-meshed safety net.
Frustrating, the subject teachers unanimously say, is that secondary special education, under the collective labor agreement and task policy, still falls under primary education. As a result, they have significantly more lesson-related hours than their colleagues at regular secondary schools (940 versus 720), they get a smaller surcharge for lesson preparation and they are lower on the salary ladder. The situation is a legacy from a distant past, but in recent years it has increasingly become obstructed - especially diploma-oriented - secondary schools.
With a PABO diploma you can teach in the diploma-oriented part of the VSO, also in the upper years. At Axia College they have a relatively large number of subject teachers with a first or second grade teacher training, but this is not the case everywhere. Van Hoek-Kreuger: “At our school it is still going quite well, but at other schools I see the struggle. Pupils who can handle VWO sometimes end up on secondary school. They are being neglected because there are not enough subject teachers with a solid background. Meijers argues, you grant vulnerable students the best teachers. "Actually, you should prove yourself to be able to teach at VSO."
Discussie
In conference rooms, umbrella organizations PO council and VO council have been talking for years about what in policy language is called the integration of VSO in secondary education. In addition, from day one a note from OCW was on the table: it must be budget neutral. That did not help. Ultimately, the organizations also saw too many organizational and legal bears on the way to take the step.
What's a factor: VSO, a niche with 37 students at 338 schools, is a sector with many faces. If only because of the different levels and graduation profiles. According to the State of Education about a quarter follow the daytime activities profile, another quarter follow the labor market profile. The other half is in the diploma-oriented segment. And to make it even more complicated: not all students in diploma-oriented schools eventually go to further education, while part of the labor market-oriented outflow does end up in further education.
The fact that vso is so diverse makes it more difficult to profile yourself
“The fact that VSO is so diverse makes it more difficult to profile yourself”, says chairman Wim Ludeke of the National Center of Expertise for Special Education (Lecso). “You have teachers who teach pre-university students and HAVO students and you have teachers who work towards a form of work-oriented daytime activities with severely multiple disabilities. And everything in between. ”
Last year it was examined whether at least something could be done about the remuneration. According to calculations by the Ministry of Education, it costs 76 million to align the salaries in the entire VSO with secondary education. In the covenant that ocw, sector councils and a number of unions (de AOb eventually withdrew the signature) a year ago, a small, first step has been taken of 16,5 million. “There was discussion about whether you should say 'yes' to that,” says Ludeke. “But it was the only structural money in that agreement. At the same time you encounter all kinds of dilemmas. ”
If you spread the money over the entire VSO, it will be of no use to anyone. If you reserve it specifically for first- and second-degree subject teachers, what do you say to the PABO-trained colleagues who teach the same subject to the same target group? In the elaboration there is a compromise with a lot of pain and effort gevonden: an allowance for VSO teachers who train pupils for further education, with an amount based on the number of pupils. The amount of the allowance can therefore differ from year to year. "An ugly solution, one of the least evil", Ludeke admits. “It doesn't deserve the beauty award,” agrees AObdirector Jelmer Evers, who also sat at the table. “It should be clear: money has to be added. We are going to work hard for that. ”
It should be clear: money is needed. We will work hard for that
For biology teacher Van Hoek-Kreuger and her colleagues, that first step is far from going far enough. She is one of the initiators of a petition to give 'specialized' secondary education the recognition it deserves and to place it within the secondary education sector. “That is the only structural solution,” she says.
“I can't blame a teacher if he opts for a regular secondary school where he can earn a few hundred euros more per month. It's unequal competition, ”says fellow teacher Van Montfort. Van Hoek-Kreuger regularly receives e-mails from recruitment agencies that promise her a better salary and fewer classes at another school. “I consciously switched from regular secondary education and I think the work here is fantastic. But if I couldn't make ends meet financially, I don't know if I can stay here. ”
Awake
At the back of the class, back to the group discussion, Meike takes the floor. “Our teachers are paid as elementary school teachers,” she shouts. “That's not right, is it? I'm sixteen. ”
When the room has emptied out, Bram sticks his head around the corner. He has come back to clarify something. “You can also ask for a green card yourself, if you feel that it is necessary. Then you go out of class for ten minutes or so. You will receive a red card when you have crossed the border. Then you also get a conversation about your behavior. Maybe that was just not entirely clear. ” Relieved, he turns around and walks into the hall.
"He just had to come and say that," winks teacher Van Hoek-Kreuger. "Otherwise he would have been awake last night."
* The names of the students have been changed for privacy reasons.
This article appeared in the November issue of the Onderwijsblad. Read here the story that the Education magazine two years ago published about the dire situation in secondary special education.
