Robert Sikkes (1958) works as managing editor for het Onderwijsblad (Education Magazine), that is published every fortnight in a circulation of 75,000 by the teachers union AOb. The magazine is the number one in education news in the Netherlands and invests much in research. Het Onderwijsblad revealed the shortage of teachers, researched the financial position of the more and more independent institutions in higher and professional education. After finishing the School of Journalism in Utrecht, Sikkes started as correspondent in Lisbon. He became Portugal and education-specialist, working for several newspapers and magazines. In 2000 he published The fairy tale of the status decline, a much discussed book about the myth that the position of teachers is getting worse and worse. In 2004 followed The best primary school, essays for parents and politicians about quality in primary education. For the conference-publication Investigative Journalism in Europe, he wrote the chapter on Portugal.
