'Teacher has to go through the test street faster'
Education is quickly disrupted when staff have to stay at home for three or even four working days in case of minor health complaints. Due to the teacher shortage, there is hardly any backstop and classes are sent home. Vital professions should therefore be given priority over the corona test street, among others the AOb. Minister Hugo de Jonge sees no reason for this yet.
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Trade unions, employers, Lobke Fleming of Education & Parents, Thijs Roovers of the Teachers' Collective: today they all argue for priority in the corona test for teaching staff. Or like Sicco de Knecht, outgoing editor-in-chief of Science Guide it expressed this morning in the Radio1 item Stand.nl: 'What happened to the crucial professions? Many people depend on the openness and functionality of the schools. So yes, it seems to me that teaching staff, among others, should be given priority.'
In the live blog of the NOS about corona, Minister Hugo de Jonge (Public Health) has announced that he does not intend to give priority to teaching staff. 'Giving priority to certain professions is now difficult to arrange.' He will, however, ask the OMT whether it should be done 'at some point'.
Stuffy nose
Roel Komen, English teacher at a comprehensive school in Alkmaar, is at home today with a sore throat and a stuffy nose. “I feel fine and it is probably just a regular cold virus. My students now have intermediate hours. Since I don't feel bad, I am available online for questions. But this of course becomes a huge problem in the fall and winter. ”
The test street is 500 meters from our house as the crow flies, but I had to drive 40 kilometers to another test location
Justine Zuidgeest, Dutch teacher in Haarlem, was already excited about the issue this morning on the bike. She already misses several colleagues: “If we find continuity for students as important as possible, teachers should not have to sit at home for days until they can be tested.” Simone van der Plas teaches biology in Oostburg: "It is quite disruptive for a school if teachers are not there. For that reason I would really like to be given priority. But more people probably have their reasons. Maybe draw the line in the vital professions. Just like at the beginning of the crisis."
Komen experienced today how busy it is at some test locations: “The test street is 500 meters from our house as the crow flies, but I had to drive 40 kilometers to another test location, because there was only room here after three days.” Komen: "Suppose you call the GGD directly at eight o'clock on a Monday morning, but you can only have yourself tested at the end of the next working day. Then you have to wait two days for the results. Then you almost miss an entire working week.”
Sad
The Alan Turing School in Amsterdam, where EvaNaijkens is head teacher, has now been open for a week and a half. At Stand.nl she says that seven colleagues are already dealing with corona and testing for it in one way or another. As a result, they cannot work at school. Today Naijkens had to send first class home. 'I'm sitting with my hands in my hair. There are no replacements due to the teacher shortage. If nothing changes then I see it very gloomy. Then many children will end up at home again.'
On the Stand.nl theorem "Teachers should be given priority in corona testing," 68 percent voted in favor. Today, the PvdA is asking parliamentary questions on the subject to ministers De Jonge and Arie Slob (Education). The party wonders whether it is a conscious choice that vital professions are not given priority in testing. She also wants to know whether Education Minister Slob knows how the teacher shortage relates to the corona-related dropout.
Smoothly
During this holiday teacher Komen digitized his teaching program in his own time and incorporated it into the online application Google Classroom. “Obviously, it doesn't make up for good physical lessons, collaboration and personal contact. But if individual students stay at home, or if the school should close again, I can switch without any problems. It is better to look at this in peace and quiet than to have to turn everything around like last school year. ”
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