Flemish Teachers Decry Appointment System Driving Exodus
Temporary teachers in Flanders are publicly condemning Belgium’s permanent appointment system, describing it as deeply flawed and demoralising. In interviews with De Morgen, educators have spoken out about forced farewells, fragmented “leftover assignments” known as restjesopdrachten, and a transitional status called TADD that they say creates more instability than security. The outcry comes as Flanders grapples with approximately 3,700 unfilled full-time teaching positions and a growing retention crisis.
The TADD Paradox
At the heart of the controversy is the TADD system — Tijdelijke Aanstelling van Doorlopende Duur, or Temporary Appointment of Continuing Duration. Designed as a stepping stone between temporary contracts and permanent appointment, TADD was meant to give teachers priority for hours and a clearer path to job security. But according to those on the ground, it is having the opposite effect.
Under reforms introduced in 2021 by then-Education Minister Ben Weyts (N-VA), teachers could qualify for TADD after just one school year and for permanent appointment after 360 days — down from the previous requirement of 690 days. As VRT NWS reported at the time, the goal was to make teaching more attractive and reduce the dropout rate. However, education economist Professor Kristof De Witte of KU Leuven has identified a perverse incentive: by making TADD faster to obtain, the reforms actually raised the threshold for principals to grant it.
“That sounds more attractive for teachers, but it actually raised the threshold for principals to grant TADD,” De Witte told VRT NWS. Principals, wary of committing to long-term obligations, increasingly issue “evaluations with points for improvement” — a middle-ground rating that avoids granting TADD while keeping teachers in limbo.
Stories from the Classroom
The human cost of this system is evident in the testimonies of teachers across Flanders. Jolien (28), a kindergarten teacher in West Flanders, has worked in five different schools over five years. Despite receiving positive feedback throughout the year, she was given a negative evaluation when there was no place for her the following school year.
“I love teaching, but I’m thinking about leaving education,” Jolien told VRT NWS. “Not because I can’t handle the work in the classroom, but because I can’t handle the personnel policy system.”
Her experience is not unique. Nienke (23), a newly graduated teacher, secured a job through a teacher platform only to have it withdrawn at the last minute because TADD teachers with seniority were given priority for available hours. She began the school year without a position.
Meanwhile, a teacher writing under the pseudonym Sarah for De Wereld Morgen described a “disposable culture” in education, where temporary staff are treated as “flexibly deployable, quickly replaceable.” She detailed how, after being wrongfully dismissed as a working student teacher, she faced insurmountable barriers to accessing her personnel file or obtaining legal recourse.
A System in Crisis
The statistics paint a bleak picture. According to data cited by former Minister Weyts, 37% of beginning teachers quit within the first five years. Research by Professor De Witte confirms that teachers who start with fragmented, part-time assignments across multiple schools are far more likely to leave the profession early.
“We see that such teachers leave education faster,” De Witte said. “Those who can start in a full-time position for a whole school year stay longer and are more motivated.”
The shortage is unevenly distributed across Flanders. In rural areas like Maaseik or Tongeren, five candidates apply for every vacancy. In urban centres such as Antwerp and Halle-Vilvoorde, there is less than one candidate per vacancy. Of the 3,700 unfilled positions, approximately 2,800 are replacement roles — temporary positions that offer little stability.
Even school principals acknowledge the dysfunction. Jo Dedeurwaerder, principal of Basisschool Klim-Op in Sint-Lievens-Houtem, admitted: “When you’re really in need, you hire anyone: even teachers who don’t fully meet the expectations.”
Political Pressure Mounts
The issue has become a political flashpoint. A De Standaard poll from May 2026 found that 75% of Flemish people believe the permanent appointment system should be reformed. Current Education Minister Zuhal Demir (N-VA) is attempting to broker a new “teacher career plan” (lerarenloopbaanplan) — a goal that has eluded her predecessors.
Education jurist Evelien Timbermont has warned that the system’s reliance on prolonged temporary contracts may also violate European regulations on fixed-term work, adding legal pressure to the political imperative for reform.
What’s Next
As Minister Demir prepares to meet with education partners — including unions that defend the permanent appointment system and school networks that want greater HR flexibility — the fundamental tension remains unresolved. The system was designed to protect teachers from arbitrary dismissal, but it is increasingly blamed for creating precarity that drives talented educators away.
For teachers like Jolien, the question is personal: “I get a lot of gratitude and appreciation from my children and their parents, but not from the policy. Being moved from here to there without much explanation takes a lot of energy.”
With thousands of classrooms waiting for teachers and a generation of new educators questioning their future in the profession, the pressure on Demir to deliver a workable plan has never been greater.