AOb: 'Focus on teaching and cancel other meetings'
No more adults - other than the staff - in the school. And cancel all meetings outside of teaching, or organize online. The AOb demands clarity from the cabinet towards the schools.
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Since the announcement of the last measures taken by the cabinet concern in education is growing. Prime Minister Mark Rutte stated at the beginning of his press conference: education must continue. Jelmer Evers is vice-chairman of the AOb: "As the largest trade union for education staff, we also want education to continue, but it must be as safe as possible."
Study day
De AOb is too often told by members that, for example, they are asked to come to a study day and feel very uncomfortable about it. Evers: "And rightly so, because that is really not possible at the moment. Let education only be teaching and scrap all things that are not physically necessary."
That means no more parents' evenings, no study days, no more meetings with colleagues at school and no more parents in the school. Evers: "And make this mandatory for all schools. Society is closing down more, partly to keep schools open. So schools now have to focus on their core task: teaching."
The upscaling and downscaling of education must be given a place in the roadmap
Lockdown
In route map published by the government last Tuesday, primary and secondary education will remain open in all scenarios. Even during another lockdown. That also raises questions, says Evers. "Education was not included in last Tuesday's up- and down-scaling story. Now schools do what they themselves think is best."
The differences are particularly large in secondary education: a number of schools are switching to hybrid education, some are forced to close temporarily. Evers: "These differences cause unrest and uncertainty for the staff." The AOb also wants grades to be included in the roadmap for primary and secondary education. "That needs to be filled in more than it is now."
Divided
From the surveys that the AOb since the outbreak of the virus, it invariably appears that teaching staff is divided about the corona measures. Just like the rest of society. Evers: "Some members want to keep the schools open at all costs, others would rather see them close tomorrow. And then there is a large middle group who want the schools to remain open, but who are also concerned about their safety, who of their disciples and of their neighbors."
De AOb therefore demands clarity from the cabinet. "Our government has to make these decisions."
Priority
In addition, the union is receiving varying signals about the accessibility of the test streets where teachers can, in principle, be tested with priority. Evers: "If tests take longer to arrive, the pressure on the schools will increase too much." Priority in regular testing and priority over any rapid tests must be a priority of the government, according to the government AOb.
Also read: 'AOb wants priority for rapid tests'
