MBO new frontrunner with temporary teachers
Almost one in five teachers in MBO has a temporary contract. At the 'green' training centers this is a quarter. “We have to make it attractive to work in education. That is in salary, but also in the security of a permanent contract.”
Picture: Type tank
The dubious honor of being the leader of the list goes to MBO Amersfoort. The roc with about 8000 students still has a young history: it was one of the schools that emerged from the ruins of the Amarantis Education Group nine years ago.
MBO Amersfoort experienced significant growth until 2019. At this institution, 28,5 percent of teaching staff has a temporary contract. That is twice as much as with some other ROCs, such as Graafschap College.
“It is not a conscious policy to have as many temporary appointments as possible,” said vice-chairman Gert-Jan Lantinga. According to him, the growth of the formation has played a role in previous years, and since 2021 the extra money from the deep pocket of the National Education Program (NPO). “We have received a lot of money in recent years, whether it concerns NPO or subsidies. I predict that the percentage of temporary contracts will rise at all institutions.” After which he adds: “Money is not the problem, but finding qualified teachers. An advertisement 'Installation technology teacher wanted': forget it, no chance."
(Piece continues under infopgrahic)
Share of MBO temporary contracts almost doubled in ten years
The figures in this story are based on the most recent data published by the implementing organization DUO this spring, with the state of affairs on 1 October 2021. The data comes from the institutions themselves. The Education magazine looked specifically at the job category 'teaching staff' in the MBO of all regional training centers, vocational schools and AOCs.
Since 2019, the number of FTEs (full-time jobs) of teachers with a temporary contract has increased by 1245 to more than 5300 in 2021. That is 19 percent of the total number of full-time jobs in this category. That share is on the rise, two years earlier the percentage of temporary appointments was still 15,3. If you look even further back: in 2012, that share was still below 10 percent.
Within MBO, it is the agricultural training centers (AOCs) that hand out relatively most temporary contracts to teaching staff: a quarter of the 3500 FTEs. ROCs and vocational schools account for 18 percent of the more than 24 thousand full-time jobs.
Various explanations keep recurring in conversations. For example, lecturers who are entitled to retirement leave and are replaced by new colleagues who start with a temporary contract. In addition, there will be a temporary expansion of the staff in 2021 thanks to the National Education Programme. But also heard: lecturers who do not get a permanent contract after an annual contract, but again a temporary appointment.
To strive
Clusius College also has many teachers with a temporary contract. The Clusius is an agricultural training center (aoc) with about 4200 VMBO students and 1500 MBO students in North Holland. There, 27,8 percent of teaching staff has a temporary contract. That percentage has increased sharply in recent years: in 2020 it was still 25,6 and in 2019 it was 19,5.
“I have done some research within the organization in response to your email. The numbers are correct, you know”, says driver Gerard Oud. The share of temporary contracts is very high, he acknowledges. That many temporary appointments is not a conscious aim, Oud also says. In 2020 and 2021, the pre-vocational secondary education component of the Clusius College grew and that influx meant that more staff was recruited. In 2021, money was added from the NPO, which was partly used to temporarily deploy extra staff, according to Oud.
“New employees naturally start with a temporary appointment. But our policy is: we hire a good teacher and he or she will receive a permanent contract after one year. We really don't aim to have as much temporaryness as possible. Especially given the tight labor market. It is already quite a tour de force to get the formation around. We must of course have some flexibility with temporary appointments, but much more than the national average is not really necessary.”
We really don't aim to have as much temporality as possible
afraid
The average in MBO has risen to 19 percent on temporary contracts among teachers (see box above). But at the Graafschap College in Doetinchem they are well below that. The ROC has about 9500 students, a number that has remained fairly stable in recent years. The institution has about 440 FTE teaching staff, of whom only 13,5 percent have a temporary contract. “If people function well, we offer them a permanent contract after one year. Of course I can only agree with that," says Peter Baks, chairman of the works council at the Graafschap College and chairman of the AOb-sector board of secondary vocational education. “That is not as obvious as it seems. I still hear fairly often that some of the institutions let employees sit on a temporary appointment for two years. Why? Because I think that education administrators are soon afraid that they will end up with a lot of staff that they would later no longer have a job for in times of hardship. I think that attitude is changing somewhat with the tight labor market and the pension wave that is going on.”
I think that education administrators are soon afraid that they will end up with a lot of staff that they would later no longer have work for in times of adversity
As in other educational sectors, institutions in vocational education must do their utmost to attract sufficiently qualified personnel, including those in care and technology. Just the social demand for technically trained personnel, such as installers. “There are quite a few concerns about that. Look at the objectives in the energy transition, we as MBO will soon have to deliver a lot of new technicians. We need teachers to train them. This also means that we have to make it attractive to work in education. That is in salary, but also in the security of a permanent contract.”
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