Addressing teacher shortages

Based on the recommendations of the independent expert appointed by the education ministry in 2020, the combined sector organisations, including the VET Council (MBO Raad) jointly drafted the action plan 'Sustainable working in education' (Actieplan Duurzaam werken in het onderwijs). The plan is aimed at making the teaching profession attractive again, attracting and retaining more teachers. Besides general bottlenecks, like offering a fitting salary and reducing workload, in VET, shortages of teachers in STEM subjects need to be addressed. There are three main elements:

1. an inspiring framework of the teaching profession is being developed in cooperation with teachers, schools and educators. In this framework, it is made clear what different career development opportunities are possible for teachers, but also what qualifications and competences teachers have acquired;
2. based on the framework of the teaching profession, a blueprint for teacher training programmes is developed, by which more uniformity is reached in the different teacher training programmes and fragmentation is reduced. The continuing professional development of teachers is put in the spotlight through this blueprint;
3. a nationwide network of approximately 7 education regions is founded. These regions combine cooperation in effective educational labour market policies with putting a powerful infrastructure in place for knowledge development and application.

In a policy letter to parliament of 14 June 2021, the education minister acknowledges the action plan but informs parliament that employee representatives have not underwritten the plan; in their view there is too little attention paid to bridging the salary gap between primary and secondary education teachers, and to the high workload. They support the majority of the plan content-wise. Therefore, a concrete follow-up trajectory will be developed starting in the next school year. The minister states that the next government will have to decide on the implementation of the plan and on the proposed investments by the involved parties.

In a policy letter to parliament of December 14, 2021, the education minister addresses the long-term predictions of the number of teachers needed in VET. It is expected that the peak in demand for teachers will be reached in 2022, after which it will decline to a relatively constant lower level, because of decreasing student numbers and retirements among current teachers. For VET as a whole, no shortages are foreseen, but for specific subjects the shortages will increase, comparable to increasing shortages in general secondary education. The same holds for certain specialistic subjects in VET.

In June 2022 the education minister announced a new comprehensive agenda to address the labour market shortages in Dutch primary education, secondary education and upper secondary vocational education. Part of the new agenda are plans to form a new structure of regional partnerships in which the partnerships 'Train and professionalise teachers together' (Samen Opleiden & Professionaliseren - SO&P) are combined with the partnerships formed to address personnel shortages in education (RAP regions: ‘Regional personnel shortages in education’ (Regionale Aanpak Personeelstekorten onderwijs). In a follow-up letter to parliament in December 2022 the education minister describes the plans to form the new partnership among educational regions.

The formation of the new educational partnership regions should contribute to simplifying the current fragmentation of regional forms of cooperation and associated approaches and funding flows. According to the follow-up letter of December 2022, the education ministry in consultation with the involved stakeholders determine which education regions are formed and how they shape governance. In doing so, following principles are applied:

• The parties agree that a voluntary form of cooperation at regional level is necessary to tackle the shortage of personnel.
• Tackling the shortages is a major theme in all sectors (primary education, secondary education and upper secondary vocational education). In addition, there is also a decrease in students in all sectors. These differences require a regional approach, with central direction from a national framework.
• The main principles the education ministry uses are: linking up with the existing partnerships and its quality (such as growth towards 100% training students via, ‘Train and professionalise teachers together’ (SO&P) and national coverage.
• An Education Region (RATO: Regionale Aanpak Toekomst)
• Onderwijsarbeidsmarkt) consists of representatives of primary and secondary school boards, MBO institutions, teacher training institutes and (representatives of) the profession (school leaders, teachers, educational support staff and trainers).
• Based on substantive developments (continuous learning pathways for students), to stimulate mobility between sectors and to make working in education more attractive (continuous learning pathways for teachers), it has been suggested to create an Education Region (RATO) across the sectors. An Education Region (RATO) can also (still) be organized on a sectoral basis (RATO primary education and RATO secondary education with vocational education) if this appears desirable based on the outcomes of the assessmentof the regional needs.
• The Education Regions are geographical regions in which the RAP and SO&P partnerships are integrated and which are part of the larger Teacher Training Alliances.
• Activities are in any case aimed at recruiting, matching, training, supervising and professionalizing teaching staff. Within the RATO, the ambition is to train 100% of the students through the ‘Train and professionalise teachers together’ (Samen Opleiden & Professionaliseren) system.
• The RATO also offers (future) teaching staff an accessible counter for all development opportunities in each of the education regions.
• In order to be able to hire teaching staff for the RATO (and not directly by a school board), suitable for the regional challenges, such as lateral entrants, and to create a replacement pool or receive resources, a legal entity is required for the RATO, for example in the form of a central service or a lead party. In the event that teaching staff is employed within the RATO's supra-administrative level, this is done on a voluntary basis. Within the RATO it is determined who has decision-making power.
• The education ministry aims at sustainable funding for the education regions with incentives that promote cooperation and reduce competition. The starting point is a bundling of existing schemes and resources, starting with the resources for RAP and SO&P (including the increase included in the budget). In view of the role, size and significance of the RATO, school boards may choose to have part of the regular personnel tasks (with accompanying budget) performed by the RATO; the budget then follows the tasks.

Furthermore, there are already a number of successful initiatives in the field to get asylum seekers with a residence permit to teach. The possibility of developing a programme that guides beneficiaries (with a teaching qualification from the country of origin) to a position as a teacher or to a lateral entry in profession/part-time trajectory is explored. The initiators and the teacher training programmes involved are exploring the role that new regional partnerships can play in this.