The Flemish education sector is in a prolonged crisis, with now almost 3,200 vacancies – an increase of more than 20% since last year, figures from the VDAB service for employment and vocational training show.
Despite regional efforts to address the shortage, the number of vacancies continues to increase. Last month, VDAB recorded 19.7% more vacancies than at the same period last year – from 1,491 in June 2022 to 1,786 last month.
The number of positions that are still open a month after they were submitted) is also on the rise, up 22% in one year. The increase mainly occurs in secondary education where there are 37% more vacancies compared to July 2022.
"There are several reasons for the increase," Johan Devyvere of the VDAB told VRT. "Teachers who retire or take on a new challenge need to be replaced but schools now also know how difficult it is to fill vacancies and are already proactively announcing the places via VDAB."
Most vacancies in Antwerp
The need for new teachers is greatest in regular secondary education, where 1,276 new vacancies were opened out of a total of 70,000 employees. By way of comparison: 82,500 people work in regular and special-needs primary education, and they were looking for 414 new people in July.
The difference is even greater with regard to open vacancies. At the end of July, secondary education had just under 2,000 vacancies, and primary education had half that. In secondary education in particular, just over 10,000 people are employed and 230 vacancies remain unfilled for the time being.
"Antwerp tops the list when it comes to unfilled vacancies, followed by East Flanders," said Devyvere. "There are 872 and 786, respectively. In the other provinces, the figures are clearly lower. In particular, technical subjects such as mathematics, French and Dutch are most affected."
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Several schools fear they will have to start next school year with an incomplete staff team. "Maybe there are still applications coming in but we also notice that people change at the last minute, sometimes to a nearer school or a job they find more interesting," said Maggy Vankeerbergen of the GO Technical Atheneum in Halle.
Devyvere advises people who are considering a job in education to take the step. "Through the VDAB, jobseekers can follow a teacher training course for free, with shortened programmes for people who already have a master's or bachelor's degree."
