More students at Dutch universities studying to become teachers

University courses for becoming primary and secondary school teachers are experiencing a significant surge in demand. Enrollment in these courses was 13.5 percent higher in the recently concluded academic year than the one before, Trouw reported based on figures from the umbrella organization Universities of the Netherlands (UNL).

Enrollments in primary education teacher training programs rose by 12.9 percent to a total of 568 students. For programs to become secondary education teachers, there were 2,029 new enrollments. One-year master’s programs were particularly popular, with enrollment rising by 21.5 percent.

The increase is “very good news” in light of the ongoing teacher shortage in the Netherlands, UNL chairman Caspar van den Berg told Trouw. He attributes the increase at least partly to the many new paths leading to a teaching career.

There are academic teacher training programs for primary education, as well as education master’s programs that allow students to teach a specific subject in secondary education. Shorter training tracks have been launched, specifically focused on subjects with significant teacher shortages. There are also various options for career changes.

“Universities have launched more programs in recent years and have fully committed to raising awareness of university teacher training programs. We are now reaching the benefits of that,” Van den Berg told Trouw.

In February, the Association of Universities of Applied Sciences also reported that their primary teacher training programs (PABOs) saw an increase in the number of students for the second consecutive year. However, this was offset by a significant decline in the training programs for secondary education subjects.