According to a recent study, commissioned by Platform Bèta Techniek (PBT) and conducted by the Motivaction research bureau, 40 percent of the working population in the Netherlands are interested in switching careers and becoming teachers. Almost 1.400 people participated in the study.

Teacher shortage in the Netherlands

The teacher shortage in the Netherlands is increasing rapidly and major Dutch cities already have a lack of teachers in primary education. Dutch secondary schools are also being affected with fewer qualified instructors available for subjects such as science and foreign languages in particular.

According to the PBT study, a great deal of the working population would be interested in becoming a teacher, but they would neither want to fulfil the role full time, nor for the rest of their working lives. Despite their interest in teaching, many never take the next step, as they feel that teaching does not offer enough career opportunities, challenges or salary.

The high work pressure in the education sector, as well as the difficulty to move from the business sector to education and vice versa, were also reasons to not switch to teaching. It is because of these reasons that one-third of young teachers also quit the teaching profession before they are 30 years old.

Too difficult

The PBT research showed that those who would consider teaching would do so for the same reasons as teachers, namely a chance to help children get the best out of themselves, contribute to society and to pass on their knowledge to others.  However, a quarter of the group interested in teaching feels that it is currently too difficult or expensive to obtain the qualification needed to become a teacher.

Of the participants in the study, 22 percent would consider becoming a teacher if this could be combined with another job in the Netherlands. Offering teaching in this form, for those who are not interested in working as a teacher full time, would prevent teachers from leaving because they feel they are not challenged enough. This form of teaching would also benefit pupils as case studies can be used from businesses to enrich lessons.

The results of the research have been given to the Minister of Education, Culture and Science and the Minister for Primary and Secondary Education and Media.