{"id":96291,"date":"2019-03-19T15:06:21","date_gmt":"2019-03-19T14:06:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=96291"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:23:14","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:23:14","slug":"woinactie-demonstrations-the-politicians-wont-listen-but-im-here-anyway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2019\/03\/19\/woinactie-demonstrations-the-politicians-wont-listen-but-im-here-anyway\/","title":{"rendered":"WOinActie demonstrations: \u2018The politicians won\u2019t listen, but I\u2019m here, anyway\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

The rolled-up banners and folded-up placards that were tucked away on the jam-packed trains during the journey to The Hague were produced with great enthusiasm once the protesters got to the Malieveld field. \u2018Striking is silver, teaching is golden\u2019, read one of them.<\/p>\n

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The more than 40,000 lecturers, students, teachers and pupils who honoured the request issued by two education-oriented trade unions, Algemene Onderwijsbond and FNV Onderwijs en Onderzoek, to join the protest march, walked towards the large stage, where a band was playing at that point, in large numbers.<\/p>\n

Despite the poor weather, all layers of the education industry were represented at the march, from primary schools to universities. Although every protester was defending his or her own interests and needs, the day was really about one thing: the fact that the entire education sector is under pressure and badly in need of more money, to the point where the trade unions are demanding an additional \u20ac4\u00a0billion for all education institutions in the country.<\/p>\n

Between occasional bouts of sunshine, there would be the odd downpour, causing those listening to the speakers to sink even further into the mud with their shoes. They didn\u2019t seem to care. Everyone could relate to the personal stories being told on stage.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe all have one goal in common,\u201d said Rens Bod, a full professor at the University of Amsterdam, and the initiator of WOinActie. \u201cTo safeguard the quality of our education system.\u201d He can\u2019t believe that some professors teach lectures to a whopping one thousand students at a time. \u201cDoes the Cabinet even care about education?\u201d He feels that only greater investments and the abolition of recently implemented measures will be able to turn the tide.<\/p>\n

'My high workload is at the expense of my students'<\/h2>
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Damian Trilling, 35, left, Assistant Professor in Communication Science at the University of Amsterdam<\/span><\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>

\u201cI\u2019m unable to complete all my tasks in the hours I\u2019m allocated to complete them. It\u2019s not unusual for me to work at night and on weekends. If I have to teach a seminar the next day, I often won\u2019t be able to start preparing for it until the night before, after dinner. During the day I must meet people, teach lectures, conduct my research, supervise students and PhD students and keep records of everything. I can\u2019t do all of that in eight hours. My high workload is at the expense of my students. I don\u2019t have enough time to properly mark exams. As a result, my students are only given marks, without any feedback, even though they expect to receive feedback.<\/p>\n

I particularly spend a lot of time applying for research grants, even though I\u2019m hardly allocated any hours to do so. So I\u2019ll spend months of my own time on getting the funding, even though chances of securing funding are infinitesimal.<\/p>\n

I get the feeling politicians don\u2019t really hear us. Nothing is happening. And it\u2019s not just a higher education issue, either. All layers of the education system are expected to get more work done by fewer people. This subject must be broached by all of us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

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\n\t\t\u2018If I have to teach a seminar the next day, I often won\u2019t be able to start preparing for it until the night before, after dinner.\u2019\n\t<\/blockquote>\n\n\t<\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n

'My daughter is not receiving proper teaching'<\/h2>
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Diana Wittendorp, 41, Lecturer in Biology and Medical Laboratory Research at Leiden University of Applied Sciences, and her daughter<\/span><\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>

\u201cI\u2019m on strike for several reasons. The first is our workload, which keeps getting worse. If I\u2019m sick, my seminar will be postponed, but I won\u2019t get a replacement, as it is incredibly hard to find lecturers. So in the end I\u2019ll have to teach that seminar myself, meaning I\u2019ll have less time to focus on my other duties. So we\u2019re not getting any sick pay. Whenever we come up with proposals designed to relieve our workload, we\u2019re told there isn\u2019t enough money. We\u2019re getting more students every year, which is obviously a good thing. But at the same time, we\u2019re not getting additional funding.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m also on strike to support my students. They no longer have student grants. As a result, they are starting their working lives with a huge student loan debt. They were promised that the money would be invested in higher education, but I\u2019m not seeing any signs that it is. So basically, the students were given a present they are paying for themselves.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I\u2019m also on strike to support my own daughter. When a teacher at her school is sick, his or her pupils are divided across other classes, meaning each thirty-pupil class gets another five pupils in it. My daughter is not receiving proper teaching that way.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Cabinet says there is not enough money for the education sector, but there is plenty of money. It\u2019s just being spent on the business community rather than on education or health care.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

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\n\t\t\u2018Whenever we come up with proposals designed to relieve our workload, we\u2019re told there isn\u2019t enough money.\u2019\n\t<\/blockquote>\n\n\t<\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n

'Without feedback, the quality of our degree programmes will deteriorate'<\/h2>
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Bernard van Dijk, Lecturer in Aerodynamics and Technical Physics at Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences<\/span><\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>

\u201cI\u2019m concerned about two things: the high workload and the huge amount of red tape I\u2019m expected to engage in. I have to mark 3,500 reports for my first-year students. If I want to do a proper job of that and give my students some feedback, too, I will need 1.5 hours per report, but I\u2019m given half an hour to do it. Without proper feedback, the quality of our degree programmes will deteriorate.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen there\u2019s all the record-keeping. Evaluating a subject takes a lot of time. I\u2019m not allocated any hours to do so. All the work I\u2019m expected to do on that score is at the expense of my teaching activities. And the red tape is only getting worse. I\u2019m genuinely concerned about that.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough I\u2019m getting the impression that politicians are not hearing us, I\u2019m here, anyway, today. I want to keep contributing as I may.\u201d<\/p>\n

'Applying for a research grant takes an immense amount of time'<\/h2>
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\u201cWe are hanging on by our fingernails. There is a huge shortage of research funding. It takes an immense amount of time to apply for grants. So I\u2019ve stopped doing it. I only give it a try if I have a reasonable chance of success. So I no longer write massive letters of application; just brief one-page letters. Needless to say, this is not doing my career any favours.<\/p>\n

\u201cMoreover, those temporary contracts are terrible. People are continually being strung along, and they keep feeling they have to prove themselves, all the time. It\u2019s making a lot of people feel insecure. They are in the prime of their lives and they want security.<\/p>\n

\u201cI doubt this strike will have much of an effect. Politicians don\u2019t listen. And yet here I am.\u201d<\/p>\n

'No room for self-esteem'<\/h2>
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Noortje Bot, 25, University of Humanistic Studies student<\/span><\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>

\u201cI\u2019m getting the impression that measurability, output and efficiency are overemphasised in the education sector. As a result, the quality of our degree programmes is deteriorating. There is no longer any room for students\u2019 and lecturers\u2019 self-esteem.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m doing a Master\u2019s degree in Humanistic Studies and I\u2019m getting my teaching qualifications, as well. There\u2019s so much emphasis on publications and conducting research at universities that there is hardly any time left for teaching. This is at the expense of valuable teaching, which is to say, teaching that helps you focus on personality development, philosophy of life and your pupils\u2019 and students\u2019 growth. Unfortunately, these things cannot be measured, so no money is allocated to them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Eight hundred students in one lecture theatre is not an exception'<\/h2>
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Maarten Heinemann, 25, student and treasurer of the Dutch Student Union (LSVb)<\/span><\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>

\u201cWe must make greater investments in our education system. Not just for the lecturers\u2019 sake, but for the students\u2019 sake, too. They can see that the quality of our degree programmes is deteriorating. Mass lectures taught to eight hundred students in one lecture theatre are not an exception. Students are given less feedback, and student supervision could be improved, as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cLecturers who are completely overworked do not set a good example. They are always juggling several responsibilities at once. Teaching is often secondary to the research they are expected to carry out, which is incredibly competitive. It means students do not have a safe learning environment. There is hardly any room for mistakes. Often you can re-sit an exam or re-submit a report, but often you\u2019ll have no idea how. If you don\u2019t get any feedback, you won\u2019t know what you did wrong. There\u2019s no room for a face-to-face conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n

'Students and lecturers are at the end of their tethers'<\/h2>
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Casper Fakhouri, 21, Bachelor of Education student at Leiden University of Applied Sciences<\/span><\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>

\u201cI\u2019m in Year 1 of my Bachelor of Education, and I\u2019m so incredibly busy. After my work placement activities, I often have to mark tests and keep records until late in the evening. And I\u2019m also expected to prepare for my own exams and write work placement reports on top of that. I can\u2019t do all of that on my own, so I\u2019m here to ask for more people to be hired in the education sector.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not only suffering from the increased workload with regard to my work placement. I can see at school, too, that my lecturers are having difficulty properly allocating their time. I often find that lessons were rescheduled or not properly scheduled in the first place. Sometimes students and lecturers alike are too tired to do a good job of it. That\u2019s very frustrating.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the same time, education institutions only have very small budgets. For instance, I\u2019m not getting any kind of allowance for the work I do as part of my work placement at a primary school in Haarlem. If there\u2019s not enough money for the actual teachers, there certainly isn\u2019t enough money to pay me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

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\n\t\t\u2018After my work placement activities, I often have to mark tests and keep records until late in the evening\u2019\n\t<\/blockquote>\n\n\t<\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n

'Make sure things are OK for the children'<\/h2>
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Auke van Nie, 63, lecturer at Inholland\u2019s physics teacher training department<\/span><\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>

\u201cI can see how hard my students are working and how many hours they are putting in. Due to the huge shortage of physics teachers, they are teaching and preparing for their classes independently, even though they are only students. This means they don\u2019t have enough time to attend school and complete their own degrees. It\u2019s unfair that they\u2019re having to do all this work and sometimes end up failing to get their degrees.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis overtime is not just at the expense of their school work, but of their private lives, as well. Their workload is so tremendous that a student of mine was actually overworked a while ago. That\u2019s so sad. It\u2019s insane that Dutch secondary school teachers have so many contact hours \u2013 many more than their counterparts in other European countries. As far as I\u2019m concerned, that number must be drastically reduced.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, I have a considerable workload myself. At universities of applied sciences, the problems are mainly related to internal procedures, but I\u2019m more concerned about my students. I guess that\u2019s what teachers do, right? Make sure things are OK for the children.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

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De redactie<\/h2>\n\t\t\n\t\t
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