Persistent teacher shortage in Flanders causes more and more problems

While the umbrella organisations for education are sounding the alarm because of the acute shortage of teachers and Flemish Minister of Education Ben Weyts is highlighting his achievements, many students are at risk of falling behind with their studies. 

The continuing shortage of teachers in Flemish schools is leading to unprecedented situations. Exams that are cancelled because the subject matter was barely touched upon. Teachers who have to take on more and more administrative tasks. An ever-increasing workload that causes people to leave the profession. It is an everyday occurrence in Flemish schools.

No improvement in sight

For the time being, there seems to be no improvement in sight, as the number of vacancies in the sector continues to grow. While open positions in education remained well below 2,000 every month in 2017, it has now been above 3,000 and often even 4,000 for a year. That is more than a doubling in 5 years, according to VRTNWS. 

Moreover, the Flemish government assumes that the teacher shortage will only increase in the coming years. According to calculations, between 7,000 and 8,000 extra full-time equivalents will be needed annually in Flemish education by 2024-2025. It is doubtful whether the outflow from the various teacher training programmes will be large enough to meet these needs.

The CEOs of the two largest education providers, GO! and Katholiek Onderwijs Vlaanderen, Koen Pelleriaux and Lieven Boeve, published an open letter in De Standaard on Tuesday, addressed to Flemish minister of Education Ben Weyts (N-VA).

They accused the minister of the fact that 'his policy lacks all urgency to do something about the shortage of teachers'. Weyts himself referred to the 'incredible steps that have already been taken. Let us focus on the positive.'

According to educationalist Pedro De Bruyckere (Arteveldehogeschool), the discussion about education is in danger of getting stuck in a circle of deflection. "In principle, all parties are right", he tells De Standaard. "Yes, we are struggling with a structural shortage of teachers. And yes, the minister is trying to change that."

In the meantime, the quality of Flemish education is declining, and pupils' knowledge is increasingly inadequate. On top of that, the corona pandemic increased the learning deficit. According to a new study by the Federal Planning Bureau, pupils in the sixth grade have learned half as much since the outbreak of the pandemic, with the losses for languages and sciences (60%) being significantly higher than for mathematics (28%). 

(AHU)

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© AFP PHOTO Valeria Mongelli