Manifest: ‘Every Child A Qualified Teacher In 2030’.

Manifest: ‘Every Child A Qualified Teacher In 2030’.

Thousands of students currently have no qualified teacher in the classroom because of the teacher shortage. Education suffers from this. Ouders & Onderwijs has, together with Defence for Children and the Algemene Onderwijsbond (AOb) drawn up a manifesto. So that by 2030 there is a qualified teacher in every classroom. Will you sign too? 

The manifesto: every child a qualified teacher 

By 2030 every child will have a qualified teacher in the classroom. That is what Ouders & Onderwijs, the AOb, Defence for Children and other organizations call on the government to do. This recognizes that every child has the right to good education. We demand this of the government: 

• Commit to the year 2030 as the deadline that every child has a qualified teacher
• Make clear how big the problem is now. How many children have no qualified teacher?
• Then define milestones. How much should the shortage be less in 2025? And make sure the shortage is almost gone by 2030.
• Take effective measures and explain how these help reduce the teacher shortage.
• Report every year with clear numbers about this goal and how measures help reach the final result.

Teacher shortage 

The quality of education has been under pressure for years. The shortage of teachers is a big problem. Schools seem to control the shortage by using unqualified teachers. Think of teachers who are not yet graduated, a teaching assistant, or a teacher trained for another subject. Education suffers from this. A quarter of 15-year-old students cannot read well enough to take part in society. 

This cannot continue 

“In the The Hague region, some schools have already switched to a four-day school week out of necessity,” says AOb board member Thijs Roovers. “And I hear from colleagues that crowded classrooms with more than 35 students are becoming the norm rather than the exception. This severely harms the quality of education. And thus harms the children.” 

“The Dutch government has committed itself to the rights of the child by signing the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child,” says board member Mirjam Blaak of Defence for Children. “This recognizes that every child has the right to education and to the fullest possible development of their personality, talents and mental and physical abilities. We think it is high time the government keeps these rights and promises that by 2030 every child has a qualified teacher.”