More than twelve hundred teachers receive rejection of Teacher's Grant
More than 1200 lecturers have been told by the implementing agency DUO that they do not receive a Teacher's Grant. "Bizarre - this is inexplicable," says AObdirector Jelmer Evers. He wants the grants to be awarded after all.
Picture: Type tank
A total of 1219 teachers are fishing behind the net: they were told by the implementing agency DUO that they do not receive a Teacher's Grant. This is apparent from figures published by outgoing education ministers Arie Slob and Ingrid van Engelshoven a letter made known to the House. DUO received 5895 applications this spring, and the bottom of the pot was reached within one day in the primary, secondary and higher vocational education sectors.
All teachers who submitted a 'repeat application' for their current training were awarded a grant. In total there are 1783 grants for this group, of which the largest number, 1032, comes from secondary education.
After this group, the rejected applicants because of reaching the subsidy ceiling last year were the first in line to obtain a grant. “These were the 'bad luck' of last year”, says DUO spokesperson Martijn Grimmius. “Fortunately, DUO was able to award these people a grant this year.” This concerns 1444 grants in total.
Outside the boat
Especially the people who applied for the first time this year were left out because there were many 'waiting'. In total, DUO registered 2668 new applicants, of which 1449 received a positive message. The table below lists the rejected persons per education sector.
| Sector | Total rejected applications |
| Primary school | 326 |
| Secondary education | 592 |
| Secondary MBO education | 38 |
| Higher vocational education | 263 |
| Total | 1219 |
Source: OCW letter to parliament
Whether this group will receive a grant next school year is highly questionable. "That cannot be said with certainty," confirms Grimmius. They will be given priority next year and waiting lists will arise, just like this year. In the letter, the ministers warn that next year 'there may be no or very limited budget left for new applications.'
Education ministers: 'We cannot guarantee that all rejected applications from this year will be awarded next year for the Teachers' Grant'
loot
According to the spokesperson, people were left out for the first time last year. “Previously, there was often money left over. Over the longer term, you can see a downward trend in applications.” Teachers misunderstand because the budget has been reduced. At the beginning of this year it made Education magazine a reconstruction that 2400 teachers missed out on the teacher grant because the government parties had looted the subsidy pot.
This year the Teachers' Grant consisted of a total amount of 47,9 million euros. In 2017 it was still an amount of 106 million euros and in 2018 it was 82 million euros. So a big chunk has been taken away. The question of whether money should be added so that qualified teachers can follow training is a matter for politicians.
AObdirector Jelmer Evers believes that the ministry should still award the requested grants. "It cannot be the case that in a time of a frightening and increasing teacher shortage, people cannot make use of this popular scholarship. It is inexplicable that billions are being thrown around in the context of the National Education Programme, but that no relatively limited amount can be made available for the teachers' grant."
Discount tuition fees
The fact that DUO rejected fewer people in absolute terms this year (1219 compared to about 2400 last year) is largely due to the discount of tuition fees. A measure taken because of the corona year. It means that most courses are half the price.
Grimmius: “We pointed out to applicants that they had to enter the correct amount, because that means that more colleagues will also receive a grant. After our reminder four thousand people adjusted the amount. This did not apply to all applications, some filled in the correct amount immediately and others were not entitled to the discount."
People who do receive too much tuition must repay that part. It is unclear how many teachers this concerns. DUO checks the requested amount and whether teachers have earned enough credits. "The check will therefore not be completed this year. This means that the 'excess' subsidy will not be returned to the pot for the Teachers' Grant. We cannot use it to raise the ceiling of the Teachers' Grant scheme. It ends up in the year-end margin of OCW in the year it is reclaimed."
