Spending cuts, declining pupil numbers and changes in retirement patterns mean thousands of young teachers cannot find a job, the Volkskrant reports on Friday.

Some 3,300 teachers and other school staff have applied for unemployment benefits over the summer, an ‘explosive’ increase and up 30% on a year ago, the Volkskrant says.

Half the new claims come from primary school teachers and two thirds are under the age of 30.

The situation is partly due to the fact young teachers are more likely to be given temporary contracts which don’t cover the summer months, Rob Witjes, head of labour market information at the UWV job centres, told the paper.

Some 5,000 students qualify as teachers through pabo teacher training colleges every year.