Share of temporary contracts in primary education reaches peak

Tekst Michiel van Nieuwstadt - Redactie Onderwijsblad - 7 november 2022 - 8 Minuten om te lezen

Earlier this year, the Education Inspectorate painted a sunny picture. The latest State of Education contains concerned words about the growing share of temporary contracts in senior secondary vocational education and secondary education. And primary education? No problem. According to the inspectorate, the percentage of temporary contracts decreased there, in contrast to other sectors. That image is outdated. In fact, by the time the Inspectorate presented the attractive trend, a wave of new temporary support staff and teachers had already entered primary education.

“It seemed like a break in the trend,” admits spokesman Lucas Verbunt of the inspectorate when asked. “But the latest figures show an increase again.”

According to the latest figures from research institute DUO, the percentage of hours that teachers in primary education work part-time as of October last year was almost 10,9. This is a striking increase compared to the percentage of 10,1 in 2020. In the same period, converted to full-time jobs, the percentage of temporary hours of educational support staff rose from 20,4 to 25,4: a new record. For support staff and teachers in primary education, the percentage of temporary contracts is also at a record high. Flexible contracts of staff who work through temporary employment agencies, and are therefore not in paid employment, are not yet included in these figures.

We try to spend a lot of money on extra people who are not there at all

“With the current shortages in the labor market, you can expect employers to explain the red carpet for new staff,” says AObdirector Thijs Roovers. “That is not happening and that is incomprehensible, because many boards have money left over.”

Blown up

Some trends in the education labor market are easily explained by labor market economist Frank Cörvers (Maastricht University). Others he calls a mystery. It is clear that the new peak in temporary contracts coincides with the availability of NPO funds for education, temporary resources for which the education boards have appointed temporary staff. Cörvers is not happy about the consequences of the intervention for the labor market. “The teacher shortage has been inflated much further by the NPO funds,” he says. “We are all trying to spend a lot of money on extra people who are not there at all. For example, attempts are made to correct mistakes made in the past, but the government could have spread this money much better.”

'A permanent contract reduces the chance of dropping out'

The NPO billions that have been pouring into education since last year only partly explain the trend towards more temporary work. The DUO figures for temporary contracts in primary education have shown a clear, trend growth over the past ten years. In 2012, converted to full-time jobs, 4,9 percent of teachers still had a temporary contract. That percentage has more than doubled since then. One in four supporters had a temporary contract in 2021. That share has tripled since 2012.

aging

In the so-called Trend Report Labor Market Teachers the Ministry of Education cites the aging of the teaching workforce as a cause for the lack of job security. New masters and teachers who replace the older ones receive a temporary contract. “It could be an explanation,” Cörvers says. But even with a continuing wave of pensions, this effect should wear off after a few years if the newcomers also get a permanent contract after one or two years at the most.

Uncertainty is generally a factor that school boards cite for temporary contracts. That is a good argument in a shrinking school, agrees Cörvers. “But the decline in primary education is coming to an end. From 2025, a growth in student numbers is expected again. Those figures do not even include the effects of the arrival of more refugees.”

The contrary trend towards more temporary contracts is harming education

The massive appointment of support staff and teachers on temporary contracts is not inevitable. As of 1 October 2021, more than 20 percent of the more than six thousand regular primary schools in the Netherlands had all teachers in permanent employment.

Schools and boards that make fun of temporary contracts may deserve a black pet, but handing it out is not easy. There are boards that stand out in the DUO figures with a share of temporary contracts that rises to more than half. But are those numbers reliable? According to DUO, the VCOG foundation for teaching staff works with almost 69 percent temporary contracts, but according to HR manager Tina Lolkema of the Groningen VCOG board, those figures cannot be correct.

VCOG manages twelve primary schools within the municipality of Groningen. After some internal investigation, Lolkema comes to the conclusion that changes in the contract size of personnel with a permanent appointment are incorrectly reflected in the data as temporary. And there are many such changes in the Groningen city council.

Of the converted 231,5 full-time jobs for teachers, 40,8 are temporary at the VCOG foundation, which amounts to a share of 17,6 percent as of 1 August last year. A percentage that still significantly exceeds the national DUO average of 10,9. In 2020, the percentage of teachers with a temporary appointment at VCOG was still 10,2.

Good reviews

The basic principle in primary education is that employees are given a temporary contract for a maximum of one year, with the prospect of a permanent contract. A second annual contract after that is allowed, but only in special cases. According to Lolkema, staff at the VCOG schools also receive a permanent contract after one year if they receive good assessments. That does not always work.

Lolkema agrees with the story of professor Cörvers, who states that the combination of NPO funding and a shortage of teachers means that employers are looking in vain for employees: “When there is a shortage of teachers, you are more likely to give people from outside education a chance. she says.

AObdirector Roovers knows the argument of the temporary nature of the NPO funds. “We can accept that,” he says. “But you can also do something about it. It is true that a lot of temporary money is available in education, but we also see that a lot of structural money remains on the shelf in boards, while vacancies remain open for a long time. Boards therefore receive money for staff who are not hired and certainly not in permanent employment. We should not accept that in the current labor market.”

Threatening shrinkage

All schools have to deal with the temporary nature of the NPO resources, but according to Lolkema, the Groningen city council is also struggling with other factors. Uncertainty due to the threat of contraction is not an issue for VCOG. “That is more important in the outlying areas around Groningen,” says Lolkema. VCOG takes care of many children from Ukraine at the Kleine Wereld in Groningen. The refugee temporary teachers and support staff from Ukraine who work there are not yet included in the latest DUO figures.

Boards receive money for staff that are not hired

It does take into account that the Groningen city council always welcomes many young people into its schools who have started as teacher in training. “Even if these people are permanently employed, their appointment often leads to new temporary contracts within a few years,” explains Lolkema. “That happens, for example, when they take maternity leave and then parental leave. There are also more young people who go on a world trip and ask for unpaid leave. New people will replace the replacement hours, whom we do not permanently hire.”

In 2012, converted to full-time jobs, 4,4 percent of teachers still had a temporary contract. That percentage has more than doubled since then. One in four supporters had a temporary contract in 2021. That share has tripled since 2012.

Despite all the explanations, for specialist Frank Cörvers not everything just fits into place on the Dutch education labor market. In theory, it could be an abc for a labor economist: “If the labor market becomes tighter, as we have seen in the past five years, you can expect the percentage of permanent contracts to grow,” says Cörvers. "You don't see that happening here and that's strange." Lolkema sees that teachers adopt a more assertive attitude in the tight labor market and that they dare to negotiate, for example about a permanent contract, but in principle VCOG sticks to the regular procedures.

Harmful

The contrary trend towards more temporary contracts is harming education. Research by the Education Inspectorate showed earlier this year that the chance of dropping out for novice teachers at a primary school is almost twice as great if they have a temporary appointment. A permanent contract reduces the risk of failure. This is even more true for female novice teachers.

“We cannot afford to lose these people to education,” says Roovers. “To prevent this, agreements are needed at national level.”

According to Cörvers, his own employer, Maastricht University, has profiled itself in recent years by focusing on less temporary and more permanent contracts. “Maybe primary education employers should follow suit,” he says. “For example, you could agree at board level to limit the percentage of temporary contracts to a maximum.”

“Very sensible”, Roovers responds. Setting a maximum of temporary and flexible contracts can also resolve the differences of opinion that sometimes arise between DUO and education boards about these figures. “The figures we now base ourselves on are too often just guesswork,” says Roovers. “That makes it impossible to hold boards to account when they go over the line.”

Also read: Year-long contracts for secondary education go to record despite tight labor market