Back to class: cabinet seeks to train civil servants as teachers

A majority of MPs are seeking to have soon-to-be-redundant civil servants at the education, culture and science ministry (OCW) retrained as teachers.

The VVD will bring the proposal, which also has the backing of political parties D66, CDA, JA21 and 50Plus, the to the cabinet Thursday.

VVD MP Arend Kisteman believes the plan will “kill two birds with one stone”.

“The announced cuts are a great opportunity to have these enthusiastic people voluntarily retrained for a job in education at the expense of the government,” Kisteman told broadcaster NOS.

The cabinet plans to eliminate 25,000 civil servants over the next nine years, a cut of some 16% by 2035. The OCW will not be spared.

Supporters say retraining already enthusiastic education workers as teachers will help alleviate chronic teacher shortages nationwide, especially in the country’s big cities.

But similar past initiatives have gotten low marks over schools’ reluctance to hire people with little to no classroom experience and civil servants’ reluctance to take salary cuts.