Six thousand signatures for a better internship allowance
Students handed over six thousand signatures today to members of parliament from GroenLinks, D66 and PvdA. With the presentation of the petition, set up by the AOb, the teaching trainees want attention for a standard internship allowance of 750 euros and, above all, action from the House of Representatives. “We are not getting anything now, but we are fully involved.”
Quickly, one of the students takes a black marker from the backpack to draw a thick line through the '5500'. It is depicted in large on the cardboard board that they will soon be offering, but in the meantime another 500 additional students have signed for a standard internship allowance of 750 euros gross per month for all internships up to the final internship.
No compensation
Bram van Fraeijenhove is one of them and has traveled to The Hague to inform the MPs that they must motivate the minister to commit to the internship allowance. He has not been paid for a single internship, not even his final internship. "I'm a little annoyed about it," he says.
I felt a bit exploited
For example, during his internship at a secondary school with learning plazas. “A student assistant through an employment agency was paid and I sometimes taught 90 students and got nothing. That was during the corona period when many lecturers also dropped out.” When Van Fraeijenhove said something about it at his school, the reaction was: "This is life, that's how it works in education. But I did feel a bit exploited." In his third year he was also 'let loose' and gave lessons independently. "At the end I received a VVV voucher for 150 euros. That was it."
Sign the petition!
And read more about school boards that make agreements not to pay lio trainees
Wry
At the end of March, the AOb the petition is open because a survey showed that more than three-quarters of students in educational programs do not receive an internship allowance. Wry in times of the teacher shortage, with many trainees already taking over lessons independently and also because trainees in comparable sectors such as the police, nursing or central government do get paid.
We don't get anything at the moment, while students at the police or central government do receive an internship allowance
That has to be different AOb and the 6013 students who signed the petition. All students who do an internship in education are entitled to a gross allowance of 750 euros per month for an internship of 40 hours per week, the rest must receive it pro rata. This applies to students in primary education, secondary education and senior secondary vocational education. It is an amount that applies up to the final traineeship, because agreements have already been made about this traineeship in the collective labor agreement, although they are still too non-binding at the moment.
Power
Meanwhile, the MPs trickle into the central hall and Freijenhoven is given an iPhone pressed into his hand to film the moment. Jeanet van der Laan (D66), Mohammed Mohandis (PvdA) and later Lisa Westerveld (GroenLinks) are standing in the central hall to receive the petition, as is a representative of the BoerBurgerBeweging (BBB).
Erva Calkin, student of the Social Studies teacher training program at the Hogeschool van Amsterdam, takes the board and hands it to the MPs. “We don't get anything at the moment, while students at the police or central government do receive an internship allowance. My college doesn't do anything and my internship school says: 'why should we change it, because we don't hear anything about it'. But as we are in our twenties and interns, we don't have the power and position to handle this,” says Calkin.
First acquaintance
AOb-chairman Tamar van Gelder is among the students, as is Grietje Dijkstra, chairman of the Groene Golf, the association's group for students and starters. Van Gelder: “We want compensation for all internships, so that students don't have to have two side jobs to make ends meet and can keep their focus on their studies. We need all the people and an internship is an opportunity to bind them to you. That first acquaintance must be good.”
The MPs who are there nod, Mohandis asks additional questions and then it's time for a photo. Westerveld: “Last year I asked written questions and I will try to draw attention to it again in a subsequent debate.”
In our twenties and interns, we do not have the power and position to arrange this
Van Gelder clarifies: “We just want to include it in the collective labor agreement, so there must be funding. We hear at the collective bargaining table that there is no money for it. It is good if you say that compensation is important.”
Recognition
Calkin says it's also a form of recognition. “It has sometimes crossed my mind to do something else or to choose mathematics because then you can negotiate much better. But, I don't like beta and then you only do it for the money.” Van Fraeijenhove: “I would like my students to have a teacher in five years' time. An internship allowance helps with this. You get better teachers because they don't have to tap into a pub until the evening as a side job, but can focus on their studies and finish them well. No one can ignore the fact that we need good teachers.”
Check it out cover story of the Education magazine (April 2023) about trainees, including lateral entrants, and the allowances they receive
