1.2 million children and youngsters in Flemish education are back at school this morning as the new school year started today. Let’s hope all the satchels were ready and sandwich boxes were nicely filled! This is not only a special day for children and parents, but also for thousands of Flemish teachers.
At Don Bosco primary school in Sint-Pieters-Leeuw (Flemish Brabant), there was a smooth start to the day, though some pupils still had jitters. ‘I am going to the third grade. It’s really exciting,’ one pupil enthused. ‘I'm happy to see my friends again. It's been a while!’
Teachers too were ready to greet the students. It is a special day for them too. The headmaster still had problems to solve. ‘Our team was complete, but last week a teacher dropped out due to illness. So I am looking for a teacher. That is difficult in this area. You really notice there is a teacher shortage.’
Flemish Education Minister Ben Weyts (nationalist/N-VA) also stood at the school gate this morning. Whether he will return in the same job in the new administration still needs to be seen, but he would certainly like to. ‘I very much enjoy doing education and obviously I would like to do it again!’
More teachers needed from various backgrounds!
Efforts to attract new teachers from outside the education profession are a way Flanders is trying to battle the teacher shortage. Yves Indeherberge is one of the new teachers who will be in front of the classroom for the first time.
Yves has worked at the education agency for many years but will now be standing in front of the classroom at the GO! Spectrumcollege in Deurne (Antwerp).
‘I'm really looking forward to getting into the new job,’ he told VRT. ‘My previous job impacted on many people, but I didn't see much of that directly. I wanted a change, which is why I opted for a new adventure.’
Taking the plunge was not easy. ‘It took me 2 years to work out exactly what I wanted to do, because you don't know beforehand what you are embarking upon. There’s the search for exactly which subject you want to teach and where. I discovered I wanted to teach at secondary school and to make a connection with pupils.’
‘I took a conscious decision to look for a school where I can work with young people from vulnerable groups. I will be teaching psychology and parenting, spread over several years and in different schools. You will understand I have a lot of work ahead of me!’