WILLEMSTAD – The Roman Catholic Central School Board (RKCS) is dealing with an unusually high level of teacher absenteeism during the current school year, placing pressure on the continuity of education. According to school management, the majority of sick leave cases are related to flu-like illnesses, resulting in a constant need for substitute teachers and increased workload for the human resources department.
The Rooms Katholiek Centraal Schoolbestuur said it has begun recruiting staff for the upcoming school year earlier than usual, in an effort to attract a sufficient number of qualified teachers in time. Despite these efforts, finding suitable personnel remains challenging due to limited availability on the labor market.
“Because of the high number of sick leave reports, there has been significant loss of classroom instruction,” the school board stated.
RKCS has reported the situation to the Ministry of Education of Curaçao, warning that the continuity and quality of education are under increasing strain. The school board hopes that early recruitment and continued coordination with the ministry will help mitigate the impact in the coming months.