Amsterdam schools struggling now that Covid support is over

Now that Amsterdam schools no longer receive extra money to help kids catch up with delays sustained during the coronavirus pandemic, they are struggling to fill the hole in their budgets. Many schools will have to say goodbye to the temporary teachers, artists, and other educational experts they hired with that money to fill the gaps in their roster caused by the teacher shortage, Parool reports.

In the past few years, schools received around 700 euros per student to help them catch up on the coronavirus delays. Many schools used that money to hire freelance teachers, artists, and other non-teacher experts. That subsidy has now come to an end.

“By hiring externally, we were able to guarantee continuity for students and create smaller classes,” Steven Tan of Akso Schools, which has 35 primary schools in the city, told Parool. “We now have to let some of that go.”

Akso Schools recently informed parents about the consequences in a letter. “At some schools, this leads to larger groups; at others, to less support in the group. It will also no longer be guaranteed that replacement teachers will be available if teachers become ill. It is, therefore, possible that your child will be home more often.”

The Innoord school board, with 17 primary schools in Amsterdam Noord, is facing similar challenges, Marton de Pinth told the newspaper. “We can do less for students than we would like while we see that the backlogs have not always been eliminated,” she said. “It is mainly on the behavioral side where there are still backlogs. You want to guide children who need it in small groups. In addition, there are shortages in youth care, which becomes noticeable where children spend their time: at school. We want to offer children support, but the conclusion now is that the social issues are greater than the number of people we have to solve them.”

According to the PO-Raad, the council for primary schools in the Netherlands, the problem isn’t limited to Amsterdam. Schools throughout the country will have to make cutbacks now that the Covid subsidy disappeared. The PO-Raad speaks of “subsidy confetti,” pointing out that temporary money means schools can’t guarantee long-term quality. “It is impossible to create permanent jobs with temporary money.”