Brussels schools group offers €250 bonus to staff who find new teachers

In recent years, one issue in particular has dominated discussions about education in Brussels: the acute shortage of teachers, which is even worse here than in Flanders.

To still find new teachers, schools are having to be particularly inventive. Last year, for instance, the GO! schools group in Brussels launched a four-day working week in five schools. Teachers, who have to travel long distances to work in the capital, can fulfil their full-time job requirements over four days instead of five and thus do not have to commute to Brussels on Wednesdays.

Getting 5,000 staff to help in recruitment

This schoolyear, the same schools group, which groups 59 schools and 31 crèches in Brussels, is launching a new initiative. Staff members who convince a new teacher or child minder to start in one of the schools or crèches will receive a bonus of 250 euros. If the new staff member is still employed after eighteen months, another 250 euros will be added. ‘In this way, we are rewarding sustainable recruitment,’ explains general manager Jurgen Wayenberg.

‘We have over 5,000 staff in the education sector and we noticed that our vacancies were not always being shared with acquaintances and on social media,’ explains spokeswoman Karin Struys. ‘This bonus should be an incentive to change that. It matches our ambition to have our teachers serve as ambassadors of the schools group.’

Higher bonuses in the private sector

In the private sector, the practice of providing a bonus to aid recruitment has been well-established for some time and typically involves higher sums of money. In education, the recruitment technique is much less established. ‘In any case, we do not know of any other schools group that is doing it,’ said spokeswoman Struys.