Cabinet: sufficient and well-equipped school leaders and teachers remain a priority

State Secretary Koen Becking: “Good and sufficient school leaders and teachers make a difference for our children and are essential for the future of our youth. It is a wonderful profession, and I see every day how people in schools and in the classroom truly make a difference.”

Minister Gouke Moes: “During my time as a teacher, I experienced how a good teacher can make a difference for pupils and students. Good teacher training programs are crucial for good teachers. It is not only necessary to make the profession more attractive so that more people want to become teachers. We also invest in safeguarding the quality of the training programs so that future teachers are well equipped for the profession they will practice. We do this, among other things, by concretizing the competency requirements for teachers so that it is clearer what graduate teachers must know and be able to do.”

TALIS2024 shows that teachers in the Netherlands are predominantly positive: 95% of teachers are satisfied with their work, 89% feel competent, and in primary education, satisfaction with salary has further increased to 84% of teachers. More and more people are also choosing to work in education. Just like in 2024, a total of 2,250 subsidies were granted this year to lateral entrants, people who want to become teachers from another profession. This is a good foundation to build on. We do this partly with the campaign ‘Working with the Future’. This contributes to a positive and realistic image of working in education, with special attention to study choice students and potential lateral entrants. Retaining teachers requires good guidance in the first years and efforts to reduce workload. Together with the education field and education regions, work is being done on sufficient and well-equipped school leaders and teachers as the basis for good education.

The latest measurements show that current shortages are again lower than last year and that this picture is temporary. In primary education (po), there is now a shortage of 5,800 FTE teachers (6.3%), in secondary education (vo) the shortage is 2,200 FTE teachers (3.5%). In 2024, this was respectively 7,700 FTE and 3,800 FTE. The shortages vary greatly by region, with the G5 having the largest average shortage in primary education (13.7%). The shortage of school leaders has also decreased and is now 461 FTE (6.2%) in primary education and 81 FTE (2.5%) in secondary education. Although shortages have partly been caught up now, they are expected to rise again in the coming years, partly because more teachers are retiring and the number of pupils is increasing. In secondary education, shortages continue to increase especially in shortage subjects such as mathematics, physics, and Dutch.