Several municipalities largely use people without teacher training to fill up the classrooms with teaching staff.
In Enebakk municipality, which is at the top in the use of unqualified teachers among the 150 largest municipalities, a principal says that they would not have managed without the unqualified teachers.
Senja municipality is also high on the statistics. Last school year, almost every fourth teaching year was a person who lacked teaching training, according to figures from Statistics Norway.
– We have one school with 30, one with 40 and two schools where over 50 per cent of the teaching positions are filled by people without approved teaching training, says leader of the Senja Education Association, Kristine S. Wulfsberg.
She has examined the status outside the Senja schools around the start of this year’s school year and says that there are big differences between the schools.
While some have full coverage with qualified teachers, there are other schools that are struggling to get hold of qualified teachers.
At two of the schools with the greatest problems, the municipality chose to go to the step of providing NOK 100,000 in recruitment grants to get hold of qualified teachers for five positions. The condition was that the person hired had to commit to the position for two years.
– In all these positions, they hired qualified teachers, so in that sense it worked, says Wulfsberg.
At the same time, it has not been unproblematic to slap on a solid extra sum for new employees.
– It can be perceived as unfair for the teachers who have worked at the school for several years, and who, due to the high use of unqualified people, have also had a high workload. New hires now receive a higher salary than the teachers who have stayed on and persevered over time, says Wulfsberg.
She says they are actively working towards the politicians to get them to understand and address the recruitment challenges.
– The answers we get from the local politicians show that they are aware of the situation and are concerned.
– More time for contact teachers
The Center Party and the Conservative Party have had the mayor and deputy mayor in Senja municipality since the 2019 election.
– It is important to remember that in Senja Municipality, on the same lines as large parts of Northern Norway, both the public and private sectors have a shortage of qualified professionals, writes 3rd candidate in Senja Høyre, Alexander Asbøl, in an email .
Alexander Asbøl. Photo: Private.
He therefore believes that part of the solution will be about further developing the local communities to become attractive places to settle. He points to things such as better infrastructure, arranging for affordable housing, more sports facilities, the lowest possible property tax and reduced parental payments and ongoing admissions to kindergartens.
When it comes to measures specifically aimed at schools, one of the points is to increase the time for the contact teacher function. Another is to arrange for teachers without an approved education to receive continuing and further education.
– We can also pay for this against compulsory years, writes Asbøl.
The governing partner Senterpartiet writes in its election program for the coming period that they will “work to get more qualified teachers to the municipality”, and that they want to provide “good opportunities for skills development and further education”.
Check your municipality:
Here there are the most and fewest unqualified teachers
– Support for further education
Jan Harald Jansen in the Senja Labor Party says that they want to stimulate unskilled employees to take the decentralized education offered at Finnsnes in Senja municipality. He believes that financial incentives can be provided through scholarship schemes and offers of employment during the course of study.
– This particularly applies to those who already work as unskilled workers in the municipality, but also to others who are interested, writes Jansen in an email.
He points out that the Labor Party has supported giving a recruitment grant of NOK 100,000 for appointments that are particularly demanding. In addition, he points out that Labor wants to establish an environmental team that can support the schools in demanding work.
– This can also contribute to easier recruitment of both existing and newly qualified teachers, writes Jansen.
He also mentions that the salary level for teachers may have to rise.
– But this is a demanding exercise at a time when there is also a shortage of skilled workers in almost all municipal services, writes Jansen.
– Strengthen the basic staff
Gunn Knörr in Senja SV says they want measures to improve teachers’ everyday life to make the municipality more attractive for teachers.
– Specifically, we want to strengthen the basic staff. Not only with more teachers, we want more professional groups into the school, Knörr writes in an email.
She believes that more environmental workers and health nurses will enable teachers to spend their time being teachers.
– In addition, we must make it easier for those who are not qualified to take teacher training, if that is something they want. As an employer, the municipality must go to great lengths to ensure that employees can gain skills and become qualified for the job they are in, concludes Knörr.
2023-09-07 20:12:06
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