Bonus for teachers, other staff at struggling schools
Teachers, school leaders and support staff working at schools with significant disadvantages will get a bonus of on average 8 percent of their wages over the next two years, Minister Arie Slob for Primary and Secondary Education announced. That amounts to an average of 350 euros gross per month extra.
Educators and administrators at these struggling schools will have to work extra hard to catch up on study delays and backlogs in the coming school years. This bonus is meant to make it more attractive for them to stay at these schools.
"Schools face the major task of catching up with learning delays as a result of the coronavirus. This is even more complicated in schools with many challenging students. These schools have the greatest difficulty with the teacher shortage: the staff turnover is higher and it is more difficult for them to fill vacancies. While good staff is desperately needed right now to give all students a chance at a full fledged future," Slob said. "That is why we are making it possible to additionally reward staff at these schools."
A total of 1,300 schools will receive this bonus. The schools were selected based on data from Statistics Netherlands. The money for the bonuses comes from the National Education Program, which was set up to help schools eliminate delays and backlogs kids incurred during the pandemic.