Covenant did not provide structural solutions to work pressure and teacher shortage
The covenant aimed at combating teacher shortages and the high workload in secondary education has not resulted in structural solutions. This was due to the amount -150 million euros in two years' time- and because it was incidental money.
Picture: Type tank
That is one of the conclusions from research to the covenant of the labor market platform Voion, in which unions and employers from secondary education work together. The researchers interviewed several people involved and examined sixty annual reports.
Structurally
Interviewees are critical of the implementation of the covenant. 'They have difficulty with the amount of money, which makes it difficult to find structural and broad solutions for work pressure and shortages within the school', according to the study. Schools mainly want structural money that they can use for a longer period of time, so that well-considered measures can be taken against the high workload and staff shortages.
Schools mainly want structural money that they can use for the longer term
At the end of 2019, the then minister of education Arie Slob announced that secondary education would receive 150 million euros (the covenant to tackle teacher shortages and work pressure relief), so that schools could do something about the high work pressure and the teacher shortage. The minister added the money to the lump sum as a temporary increase and had to be spent well in the years 2020 and 2021 with the involvement of the educational staff. AOb be the covenant at the time, because the money was transferred directly to boards while the union wanted hard agreements to be made in the collective labor agreement and because of the incidental money.
The investigation shows how the money was spent. 81 percent of the schools mainly used it to reduce the workload. For example, temporarily smaller classes, extra educational support staff or ICT tools to perform work more efficiently. 54 percent indicated that they mainly use measures for development time, an equal percentage (54 percent) for educational innovation and guidance of lateral entrants or starting teachers (47 percent).
81 percent of schools used the money from the covenant for measures to reduce work pressure
A clear demand from Slob was to involve the teaching staff. The research shows that especially the mrs are well involved, but that by no means all teachers in the workplace were aware of it. Schools tried to involve the staff by setting up working groups, holding a survey, online brainstorming sessions, a menu in consultation with the mr or a round table discussion.
Recommendations
In subsequent schemes, it is important to involve teaching staff 'from the bottom up', the researchers write. Just as was the aim of this covenant. In addition, attention must be paid to evaluation and the money must be clearly earmarked for a purpose. In addition, administrators should ensure better information provision, so that teachers within the schools are well informed. The moment of making the money available is another lesson. If you do this at the end of the year, as with the covenant, then all plans have already been made.
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