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Johan Leman, 30 May 2022

On 5 May, I published an Opinion here about the predictable shortages in education. Add to that the predictable, ever-growing shortages in childcare.

What do governments do? In both cases, one expects salvation from the hyper-fast inflow of people who do not have the appropriate diplomas or training.

One can see that this may be a viable route for those who have to teach young people vocational training, by transferring people from the professional world into education. But will one please think twice before proclaiming as a good policy that people who are unemployed, for example, can be turned into teachers or good child-care workers in an instant? Does a government really think that it will make a profession more attractive if it introduces the idea that anyone with a short training can simply qualify for it? You do not make a choice for childcare more attractive by activating unemployed mothers to go for childcare via a short training, and you do not make the profession of a teacher more attractive by lowering the conditions for becoming a teacher.

The only really valid alternative in the long run is to revalorise such a profession. “Upgrading”, in terms of training, in terms of the environment in which people are recruited, in terms of social recognition and possibly also in terms of remuneration, is the only valid way forward. For all those professions. Upgrading starting from real content, not upgrading for lack of better. In other words: take the profession seriously again!

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