I sindacati dell’istruzione manifesteranno per 5 giorni e sciopereranno contro i piani del comitato nominato dal ministro Ben Weyts (N-VA).

>A 38-hour working week, more attention for starting teachers and extra compensation for teachers who work in schools with major challenges. These are only 3 of the 70 recommendations from the report of the Committee of Wise Men . This came at the end of 2022 at the request of Flemish Minister of Education Ben Weyts (N-VA).

>The three education unions (ACOD, COC and VSOA) are anything but satisfied and reject the report. “We will not make education high-quality and attractive in the future with fantasies, ill-considered measures and recipes from the past,” the three education unions say.

>In recent months, the unions have informed educational staff. And there is also a lot of dissatisfaction there, says union secretary Nancy Libert of the socialist ACOD Education. “The plan before us does not meet the concerns and needs of educational staff at all. On the contrary, it scares people away.”

>”Proposals are made that are not substantiated, such as introducing a 38-hour week. It is not stated how this will be achieved and measured. Research shows that employees currently work approximately 43 hours. How are we going to compensate for that?”

>“The report states that part-time work is strongly discouraged, even though today many people work part-time,” says Libert. “We thought the intention was to make the teaching profession more attractive and thus solve the teacher shortage. But I mainly hear teachers say that they will leave education if all this comes through.”