teacher strike

Teachers, school leaders and other employees in education are striking on Thursday and Friday for higher wages and lighter workloads. Over 4 thousand primary and secondary schools are expected to remain closed today and tomorrow.

As far as is known, a total of 3,978 primary schools and 180 secondary schools are closed on one or both days of the strike, NU.nl reports. Together that is 56 percent of the total number of schools in the Netherlands. 59 percent of primary schools are participating in the strike and 28 percent of secondary schools.

A third of childcare organizations cannot offer extra out-of-school care to parents during the upcoming teachers' strike, because they simply do not have enough staff to manage it, according to a poll by Brancheorganisatie Kinderopvang, NOS reports.

The Dutch government is in discussions with the school boards in five cities hard-hit by a shortage of teachers to roll out emergency plans to address the problem. The ruling cabinet announced on Monday it will have a plan in place to tackle the issue in Amsterdam and The Hague by the end of January, and then it will begin addressing the shortages in Rotterdam, Utrecht and Almere.

The school performance of 15-year-olds in the Netherlands is deteriorating. Especially the reading ability of Netherlands' teens is declining compared to other countries, according to the annual PISA survey, in which 77 countries participate, including the 37 countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Compared to the rich OECD countries, Dutch teens' reading ability is below average. 

Negotiations between trade unions and employers for a new collective bargaining agreement for primary education stalled on Wednesday evening, union AOb and employers' organization PO-Raad announced on Thursday. The unions regarded the employers' offer of a just under 3 percent wage increase as too low, NU.nl reports.

With teachers in primary- and secondary education across the Netherlands striking on Wednesday, many a parent will be wondering what to do with their kids on this extra free day. Zoos and amusement parks across the country are there to help, according to a list compiled by newspaper AD.

A number of the larger attractions are opening on Wednesday, even though they're actually already closed or partially closed for the winter. Others are offering discounts.

Teachers in primary- and secondary education announced another national strike. If the government does not respond to their demand to allocate 423.5 million euros extra to education, they will strike on Wednesday, November 6th, NOS reports.

General education union AOb and trade union FNV Onderwijs en Onderzoek are planning a national strike in primary, secondary and higher education on March 15th. Various action groups, including PO in Actie and WO in Actie, support the strike, the Volkskrant reports.

Primary school teachers in Noord-Holland, Utrecht and Flevoland are striking today for higher salaries and a lower workload. Thousands of teachers are expected to march through Amsterdam, from the Waterlooplein to the Museumplein, AD reports.

The march underlines that primary education is still on 'code red', according to educational organizations. They say that the quality of education is under severe pressure due to the rising teacher shortage. 

Primary school teachers across the Netherlands are striking today for the second time this year. They want the government to push more money into increasing their salaries and decreasing their workload. PO in Actie, the action group that organized the strike, expects that more than 90 percent of primary school teachers are participating, NOS reports.

The millions of euros the new government set aside for primary education in its government agreement, is not enough for primary school teachers. The majority of them want to plan another strike, according to a survey by general education union AOb, the biggest union in primary education in the Netherlands, RTL Nieuws reports.