2023-12-23 07:59:00
On a daily basis, the teacher copes very poorly with this situation. On Thursday, for example, he finishes in Couvin at 12:45 p.m. and his next class starts at 1:05 p.m. in Jumet. “I have around twenty minutes to travel 45 kilometers in traffic jams on the N5. It’s simply impossible. And what stress!” Nibbling, at best, a sandwich while driving, with the certainty that his class will once again start late.
Many teachers, like Bruno, have to juggle between two, three schools, or even more. Asked about this in Parliament committee this week, the Minister of Education, Caroline Désir (PS), took stock of the issue.
Back to school 2023: “The well-being of teachers must be a priority”, believes Caroline Désir
“Nearly 83% teach in a single school”
“In October, almost 83% of teachers taught in just one school,” she said. About 12% taught at two institutions. Finally, 5% of them were traveling between three or more schools.” Some functions are more affected than others. Logically, “small courses” in terms of number of hours are the first to be targeted. This is the case for certain professional practice courses, religion, philosophy and citizenship, history, geography or even, in primary school, modern second language or musical awareness courses for example. “The development of staff member schedules is the sole prerogative of management,” the minister further indicated. Generally speaking, they draw up schedules in good agreement, by contacting each other beforehand so that staff members can cover all of their hours, in the interest of all.”
A music education teacher, Serge has long been one of the 5% of teachers required to travel the most. “At one point, I taught classes at the same time in Chimay, Rance, Charleroi, Marcinelle and Mont-sur-Marchienne,” he recalls. Five addresses: who says better? Aurora!
The plight of temporary teachers
”In the second year of my career, in six schools at once”
“During my second year of teaching, I was teaching in six schools at once,” she recalls. Alongside distance problems, the philosophy and citizenship teacher in several schools in Liège wishes to highlight other difficulties. “Personally, I travel by bike. Even if it’s the fastest, it still takes around twenty minutes to travel, she says. So when I have two classes coming up, which happens, I either have to leave earlier in between or start later.”
“But that’s not the worst part,” she adds. Today, I give 16 hours in my ‘mother school’, 3 hours in another establishment, and only one in a third place. Finally. But I had to hang on for the first six years.”
Just one example regarding class councils. “At the time of the six schools, I had 385 students whom I rarely saw. In addition, these meetings were sometimes held at the same time. When I couldn’t be there, I had to write everything down: a lot of work. And above all, I was not aware of what was happening for my students in their other classes…” In the same vein, parent meetings are also multiplied by the number of schools, like the platforms where messages from management and parents accumulate.
“That awful feeling of not being able to do a good job”
At 34, the teacher talks about the difficulty she faced in integrating at the start of her career. “By being little in a school, we miss out on all the relationships, with colleagues and with students. We don’t meet anyone in the corridors or in the teachers’ room. In short, we are not part of the life of the establishment, we are not called to events (parties, trips, etc.), we do not receive support, advice, we do not know who is who : we are almost sub-professors. Not to mention this terrible feeling of not being able to do a good job.”
What saved her? It is the passion for philosophy and the contact with the students. “Today, I see them evolve, I evolve at the same time as them, we grow together. It’s very nice and makes sense.” And to conclude: “With time, things get better, you just have to hold on.”
What measures to combat the shortage?
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