Around 3,500 teachers marched through the streets of Antwerp on Tuesday, the start of a five-day protest organised by a collective of education sector unions, according to trade union reports.
The unions launched the protests to manifest their opposition to a report by a committee of experts tasked by the Flemish government with finding ways to professionalise the teaching profession.
Union representatives reserved a frosty reception for the report when it was released in December, criticising it for merely recycling past measures which, they believe, will not succeed in creating a high-quality education sector. They were particularly incensed that frontline staff were not prioritised in the consultation.
The committee’s report proposed about ten recommendations. These included assigning teachers to governing bodies rather than to individual schools, introducing an "induction year” early in a teacher’s career, establishing a “senior teacher” status, defining full-time work as a 38-hour week, and making the role of school principal more professional with a larger pay gap.
“Rather than addressing key issues, these measures could exacerbate existing problems,” the unions argued. “In the meantime, teacher shortages continue to rise, while current staff are swamped with paperwork.”
Flemish Education Minister Ben Weyts said he did not understand the protest, considering it unusual to demonstrate against the recommendations of an independent committee as opposed to policies. He viewed the protestors as making any dialogue impossible.
The Antwerp march is to be followed by similar protests in Ostend, Leuven, Hasselt, and Ghent.
