Children rejoice and parents panic: six schools in The Hague have switched to a four-day school week amid an ongoing struggle to find teachers.
The Dutch teacher shortage has pushed certain schools to cut back on working days. Instead, on Fridays, students still receive a home lesson programme — yay, we guess?
The Hague Schools, an educational umbrella organisation, informed De Telegraaf that at least six primary school classes are going through with this new schedule due to the shortage.
For now, the schools that took the drastic measure remain unknown to the public.
Fewer teachers, less education
The Netherlands has been struggling with a shortage of teachers for years. There are various job vacancies for teachers and other teaching staff in the Hague, writes RTL Nieuws.
A spokeswoman for The Hague Schools told De Telegraaf: “It is not the first time, and it will not be the last time that children temporarily go to school for four days instead of five.”
“We also have a substitute pool of employees that we can deploy, but that has also almost dried up. It is a very vulnerable situation.”
What happens now?
The PO council, the umbrella organisation of school boards for primary education in the Netherlands, assures that schools want to maintain the quality of their education.
The world has also learned a lot from online learning after dealing with the pandemic, so let’s hope that those home lesson programmes may not be all that bad. 🤷♀️
How do you feel about the teacher shortage in the Netherlands? Tell us in the comments below! 👇
Healthcare system is already a low light in the Netherlands. Is Education going to the same situation?
Thats very sad Indeed!
Online classes are the worst as a perso opinion and as a teacher…!
Shall I apply for the job? 😎😎
I am a fully qualified English and Mathematics teacher for both Primary and Secondary schools. My qualifications have been recognized by the DUO and yet I’m struggling to get an interview. I live in the Netherlands and have no need for sponsorship. I don’t speak Dutch but willing to learn as quickly as possible… With such a shortage where are the opportunities?
When I was in elementary school in Canada we shared all of our classrooms – grades 1 and 2, 3 and 4, 5 and 6, had the same teacher, same room, same time, different assignments. No idea if this was normal, but I imagine it would help in this situation.
I taught English in a Dutch high school for nine years and had terrific results. After taking a year break in America, I was totally not able to get a teaching job after applying to a couple of dozen vacancies. I didn’t even get one interview. At that time, I was 61 and wonder if it was age discrimination.