Teachers hired from an external agency are almost twice as expensive per hour

Teachers hired via an external agency cost secondary schools twice as much as salaried teachers. The Algemene Rekenkamer, Court of Audit in English, calculated the differences in research. While a teacher on a contract usually costs around 58 euros per hour, a detached teacher of a similar level costs schools 113 euros per hour.

Despite the higher costs, external hiring of teachers has increased sharply in the last few years. Schools use this to fill a gap left by a teacher on temporary sick leave, for example. External hiring is now around 4.4 percent of all staff expenditures, which is double what it was ten years ago. This does not only account for teachers but also for supporting staff.

A surprising result from the research is that school boards hardly negotiate about the price. The study showed that school boards "accept the prices the external agencies suggest." They find the fact that a teacher is available for their classes more critical than the price.

The Rekenkamer wants to help school boards with this and will, therefore, meet with people from the sector "to inform them about the possibilities of negotiating about prices and terms."

The research is based on data from 84 percent of school boards in secondary education. There are several reasons that teachers hired externally are more expensive. Agencies that bring the schools and teachers together ask for a percentage and must charge a 21 percent tax. The agencies also have the schools pay a little more so that they can pay the detached teachers during the school holidays.

The agencies' percentages vary according to the research: while one agency takes just 15 percent, another may add 46 percent to the bill.

Outgoing Education Minister Mariëlle Paul understands that hiring externally is a short-term necessity to solve problems at times. "But that should only be temporarily, and if there is no other solution," she replied.

According to Paul, the aim should be to have a consistent teacher in front of the class. She prefers to push back external hiring and make contractual employment as attractive as possible.