Extra salary makes work at schools with backlogs not more attractive, according to CPB report

Extra salary for teachers to teach at schools where children run an increased risk of learning disadvantages does not cause an influx of teachers. This is apparent from a Wednesday published Report from the Central Planning Bureau (CPB).

The allowance is part of a government plan to combat learning disadvantages that result from the Coronacrisis. In order to realize the measure, the government made a total of 375 million euros available for the school years 2021/22 and 22/23. But the allowance has had « no substantial effects », writes CPB.

During the school years 2021/22 and 2022/23, the allowance did not lead to a decrease in the number of students per teacher, the CPB writes. The Planning Office also did not encounter ‘significant effects’ on the number of hours of teachers worked. Incidentally, there are indications that the extra salary contributes to the preservation of teachers and that they move less to other schools.

Attractive

Since 2021, the allowance applies to 15 percent of all basic and secondary schools, where relatively most children are with an enlarged risk of learning arrears. Due to the measure, the hourly wage of teachers at these schools increased between 6 and 8 percentage points compared to schools without allowance. The measure had to make working at the schools in question more attractive, hoped the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science.

According to the CPB, the ‘late announcements’, at the start of the new school year, and the ‘temporality’ of the allowance were not conducive. For example, many teachers would have already made contract agreements with schools when the scheme came into effect. The allowance coincided with a substantial general wage increase in education.

Extended

The allowance would initially apply for two years, but after that the scheme was extended three more times. Teachers can still claim the allowance until the end of 2025. Nothing has been announced about the following period.

The CBP investigated administrative data, such as salary data, which mainly came from the Central Bureau of Statistics and the Education Executive Agency. Schools are requested to register the allowance under a certain wage cost component. This allowed the CPB to find out which teachers temporarily received extra salary.

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