1,150 teachers take to the streets in Ostend to express dissatisfaction about Minister Weyts’ report: “It is not possible to cram 55 hours into a 38-hour week” | Ostend

Many teachers protested on Wednesday against the new measures taken by Minister Ben Weyts in Ostend. The teachers gathered in the morning at Sint-Petrus en Paulusplein in Ostend. They left at 10.30 am along the sea wall to the old swimming pool in Koninginnelaan.

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The three education unions ACOD Education, COC and VSOA Education reject the report of the Committee of Wise Men. One of the biggest pain points is the 38-hour week for teachers. “We want to see more budget for education. It is about the relationship between what is expected of us and what we receive in compensation. People cannot cram 55 hours into a 38-hour week. Not everyone should fall victim to a few who abuse the system,” says Wim Van der Schuren, secretary of VSOA Education West Flanders.

Nele Boghe, provincial secretary of ACOD Education West Flanders, comes all the way from Leuven to protest. “This breakdown affects not only teachers, but all civil servants. The idea that a full-time teacher’s job ends after 9 p.m. is a misconception; there are still replacement hours and preparations. Permanently appointed teachers risk losing their status and part of their pension if they take leave, for example for illness or the birth of a child. This leads to stress and burnouts. The Van Damme plan and similar legislation discourage taking leave and are also misogynistic because of working with a closed envelope. This discourages management from hiring young women. This is unacceptable.”

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A delegation of 25 teachers from the Sint-Lodewijkscollege in Bruges protests in Ostend against proposed changes in education. Teacher Koen Develter from Roeselare criticizes the plan to abolish competence certificates. “You no longer have to have a diploma, I wonder how they want to increase quality with that.” He fears that the proposal to appoint only 80 percent of the staff will not make the job more attractive. He notes that education now appears to be modeled after the private sector, something he believes has not been well received in higher education. “One does not learn from examples. They have an ideology that competition is better than cooperation, which is mind-boggling.” Although Minister Weyts is critical of the demonstrations, Koen believes it is important to send a signal now. “We are on the eve of the elections. It could be that a coalition agreement is made during the holidays and then it is too late and it is already included.”

The teachers are clearly in high regard, as we can see from the enthusiasm with which Sofie Desmet, math teacher at the Broederschool in Roeselare, explains why she came to Ostend today. “We are here because they want to abolish the certificates of competence. You will no longer need a pedagogical diploma. I have a bachelor’s degree, but that diploma is no longer worth anything. In addition, the management may also decide that I should teach third grade, but I am not qualified for that. The management will also be able to decide for itself whether someone is competent, but if the director’s nephew has no job, he can simply appoint him, for example. That is problematic. We are not going to say to a doctor, if we think he knows something about medicine, ‘just go ahead’.”

There will be further actions in Leuven on Monday, May 13, in Hasselt on Tuesday, May 14 and in Ghent on Wednesday, May 15.

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