The summer holidays are over for children in the south of the Netherlands from this week, with the new school year starting in Zeeland, Limburg, southern Gelderland and large parts of Brabant.  Schools there broke up on July 5.

Children in the central part of the Netherlands return next week and those in Noord-Holland, Flevoland and the northern provinces on September 2.

According to the Telegraaf most schools in the southern region are fully staffed, even in areas where the number of children has grown, such as Veldhoven.

The picture may, however, change when children in the big cities go back to school, where staff shortages have been more acute, the paper said.

According to broadcaster NOS, the central region will indeed have a major shortage of teachers when the schools go back next week.

A quick look at education job site Meesterbaan shows that Noord-Holland and
Zuid-Holland account for 75% of the open vacancies for teaching jobs, NOS said.

The teacher shortage, due in the main to a lack of new recruits and an aging teaching population, is being made worse in the central area because of the shortage of affordable homes where teachers can live.