Europe: The teachers in Belgium are quitting en masse, both in primary and secondary school, leaving students falling behind in classes, wherein most of the cases, shortages result in the cancellation of classes.
Certain subjects have not been taught for months, as per reports. And that inevitably impacts the quality of education.
Sociologist and parent Dirk Jacobs mentioned on Twitter that, “For months, my 16-year-old daughter and 12-year-old stepdaughter have not been taught in various subjects. I hear similar echoes from other schools.”
Moreover, fellow parents came together to comment on the tweet, detailing how a French teacher has not been replaced for a whole semester, while the cultural sciences class has only been taught sporadically after a teacher dropped out due to burnout.
Frustratietweet. Al maandenlang krijgen mijn 16-jarige dochter en 12-jarige plusdochter voor verschillende vakken geen les. Ik hoor gelijkaardige echo's van andere scholen. Ik hou echt mijn hart vast over het lerarentekort en de te verwachten impact op kwaliteit van het onderwijs
— Dirk Jacobs (@DirkJacobs71) May 19, 2022
The frustration tweet. For months, my 16-year-old daughter and 12-year-old plus daughter have not been taught in various subjects. I hear similar echoes from other schools. It really holds my breath about the teacher shortage as well as the expected impact on the quality of education.
Along with this, the education for the newcomers who speak a different language, such as students from war-torn Ukraine, are often sent home several hours before the officials’ end of the day to the shortage of teachers.
The problem is getting worst by the week, parents of the students are turning desperate.
In addition, the education specialist Pedro De Bruyckere acknowledges the issue, as the Artevelde college has been surveying the shortage of teachers at schools over the past year as well as a half. “In the last survey from two weeks ago, 43 percent have indicated that there are classes that are not taught for several hours a day. In November 2020, that was only 20 percent.”
Furthermore, the issue seems to be the most serious among the language subjects, as 21 percent of the cancelled classes were in foreign languages, as well as 71 percent in Dutch.
