Wednesday, 30 April 2014 - 10:48
Massive math teacher shortage in Netherlands
The Netherlands has too few math teachers. One reason for this is that math teachers are stepping over into the business world, as it pays better. The Netherlands Math Platform tells the Algemeen Dagblad that there could be a serious problem.
In the last four months, almost 300 vacancies were posted for math teachers in higher continued education. This is dozens more than for subjects such as geography and Dutch. In four years time, the number of open positions in math teaching has doubled, job site MeesterBaan reports.
The spokesperson for the Netherlands Math Platform, professor Remco can der Hofstad of TU Eindhoven tells the AD that the Netherlands must not miss the boat. According to him, the Netherlands should be more involved in mathematics to be able to hold its own in the economy.
"Our society turns more and more on mathematics, from jurisdiction to the medical world. A feeling for numbers and what they mean is very important for that", Van der Hofstad says.