Education minister Ronald Plasterk is on a collision course with the teachers’ unions, according to Marleen Barth of the CNV. ‘He’s nearly half way through his first hundred days and I still haven’t spoken to him,’ says the angry union representative in Wednesday’s Volkskrant.

Teachers are furious with Plasterk’s suggestion that holidays could be shortened to help ease the pressure on teachers. But unions say teachers already use their holidays to catch up on work and the subject is non-negotiable. They further point out that the main problem in the profession is a shortfall in teachers.