The education sector currently lacks enough substitute teachers to cover all absences, leading Minister of Education Claude Meisch to plead for more flexibility in schools. About 15% of teachers recently failed to show up for work due to various reasons.
Aside from regular colds, quarantine and isolation periods as well as leave for family reasons linked to Covid-19 are taking their toll on school staff.
Patrick Remakel, president of national teacher’s union SNE, commented: “The Minister said they will try to recruit more people to cover the shortage of substitutes and avoid having to teach separate classes jointly.”
At the moment, schools are trying to get by without having their everyday life interrupted too much. It is important to note however that a number of municipalities are already unable to find substitute teachers, which means that extra tuition classes are already being cancelled.
Remakel noted: “We have long pointed out the danger of this situation. We don’t have enough people working in our schools, and while the Minister now promises to increase recruitment, we doubt that this will happen quickly enough.”
Substitutes will also be needed in the country’s secondary schools. Raoul Scholtes from teachers’ union Feduse underlined: “We decided to increase the frequency of rapid tests to three times per week. Furthermore, we want to find solutions for people forced into quarantine or isolation that allow us not to fall back on home schooling.”
The Ministry further announced that school trips will be called off at least until the Easter holidays. Feduse has meanwhile repeated its demand to have air purifiers installed in class rooms. The unions welcome the shortening of isolation periods, which may eventually help improve the current situation.
