Teachers to work longer for same pension

The federal government’s budget reform includes the provision that years spent in higher education no longer apply to years worked for civil servants. This means that public servants, including teachers, will have to work longer to qualify for the same pension.

Civil servants, including teachers, do have the ability to “regularise” their study years through a lump sum payment. That is a service offered to all workers in Belgium.

At the same time, the system of “preferential bonuses”, which allows teachers to retire earlier will be reformed. Via this system, working years of teachers carry more weight than other professions, so they can retire earlier.

Education unions were not happy with the decision, as they fear this will mean lower pensions for teachers. The timing is also not good for Flemish education minister Hilde Crevits, who is working on measures to enhance the appeal of teaching jobs.

Federal pension minister Didier Bacquelaine said that the pensions will not be lowered. “But the system has to be modernised,” he said. “Preferential bonuses are just out of date. The money we save by decreasing them will be invested in a new pension system. Just like everybody else, teachers will have to work longer to get the same pension.”

If the preferential bonus system would be heavily affected, Crevits asked that teachers be included on the list of list of difficult professions, a list that includes jobs such as police officers and firefighters, who can also retire earlier. Bacquelaine “reacted positively,” Crevits said. “It is important that teaching remains a viable profession.”

Photo courtesy CVO