Primary school teachers reject four-day week amid staff shortage

School leaders in the Netherlands are opting against the idea of a four-day week for primary schools amid a critical shortage of teachers.

A survey conducted by Nu.nl and the Academy & Association of School Leaders (AVS) found that of 308 heads of schools, only three (less than 1%) said they had chosen to reduce required attendance days for pupils as a solution to the crisis.

Primary schools are short of roughly 5,800 teachers nationwide, about 6.3% of all teachers, according to research institute Centerdata.

Despite an increase in teacher numbers since 2024, when the shortage stood at 8.1%, low salaries and long hours remain a problem for enticing people to join the profession. The previous generation of teachers is also retiring, worsening the gap.

Leanne der Steeg, a policy advisor at AVS, told Nu.nl that a four-day school week does not necessarily help the teachers and can harm education.

“A four-day school week also brings ‘hassle’ with it,” she said. “It is not just a matter of sending a class home. Thought must be given to the missed teaching time. Will it be made up at another time, will homework be assigned, and what about children of working parents? And if you free up a teacher for a day by opting for a four-day school week, it requires preparation before they can stand in front of another class.”