Minister Currie: “We do not have a magic wand”

Currie knows that there are many expectations in the run-up to the new school year and everyone expects everything to be in order, but that is impossible. There is a shortage of teachers, schools and classrooms. The government has already taken measures to address the teacher shortage by providing better incentives.

Teachers were recently granted better secondary benefits as well as a 15 percent salary increase, which will take effect at the end of September. The government will also cover the tuition costs of students who enrol at the Pedagogisch Instituut or the Instituut voor de Opleiding van Leraren.

In this way, the government is trying to motivate as many students as possible to choose these programmes. There are also challenges regarding the placement of teachers in the interior, because the staff housing no longer meets requirements and local communities do not want to rent houses to the ministry due to late payments. By holding talks with the local communities, the ministry will try to resolve this problem.

The ministry is also working hard to accommodate all pupils for the coming school year. Work has been carried out on the renovation of a number of schools as well as the construction of new schools. In cooperation with the business sector, six schools have been completely renovated. In addition, 76 classrooms are being added thanks to the business sector. The government is also working on renovating 35 schools and constructing 100 new classrooms.

According to the minister, the public tenders for this have already taken place. “These classrooms will not be completed by October 1, but we hope these spaces can be put into use in December.”
He guaranteed that the new school year would have a better start compared to the previous school year. “We are constantly working with the various actors so that the new school year starts smoothly.”