Bianca: ‘The Homework Was Sent By Mail’.

Bianca: ‘The Homework Was Sent By Mail’.

Dutch people are everywhere in the world. And Dutch children too. But how do these families handle education? There are several options. Dutch distance learning from the worldwide school is one. Bianca Maaskant works at the worldwide school and explains how it works.

Homework by mail

Bianca: ‘The worldwide school was founded 75 years ago in former Dutch East Indies. At that time, many Dutch people lived there who needed a connection with the Dutch language and culture. Homework used to go back and forth by mail to the Netherlands. Sometimes it could take weeks before a notebook was returned.’

Now it works differently. The worldwide school offers fully online and digital education today for children in more than 109 countries. The teachers also live in different places, such as America, Curaçao, and Australia, so teachers are available in every time zone to give lessons.

From world travelers to top athletes

‘The worldwide school is for everyone who lives abroad with children from 2 to 18 years old and wants to keep a connection with Dutch education,’ explains Bianca. These can be children of expats, world travelers, but also international top athletes and missionaries. The worldwide school offers a flexible way to learn. ‘The only thing that really matters is that you live abroad,’ Bianca explains. As soon as a family returns to the Netherlands, a child can join regular Dutch education again.’

Why distance learning?

Parents can make several choices about education abroad. One important factor can be: how long do you plan to stay abroad? Bianca explains some options: when parents stay for a long time, for example 3 years, at a fixed location abroad, you can choose a local school because children really learn the culture and make friends at the destination. And do you want English education for your child? This is often not a problem in big cities but is different in many other places. You also have to consider the quality of this education and if it suits your child.

 

 

If you stay abroad for a year or less and you consider a local school, keep in mind: it takes a child about a year to change education systems and get used to a new language and culture. So if you go abroad for only a year (or less), you could take this into account and Dutch distance learning might be more suitable. ‘But advice is always personal,’ Bianca emphasizes. There are also parents who choose a school at the location but let their child follow Dutch and reading comprehension via the worldwide school. ‘Even if you do not plan to return to the Netherlands soon, you keep options open for your child.’

The education inspectorate

The worldwide school is, like all Dutch schools, under supervision of the Dutch education inspectorate. The inspectorate regularly checks to keep the education quality. They also visit the worldwide school, Bianca says. How do they do this? ‘The procedures are the same as in regular education, but for us the inspectorate watches online lessons instead of a classroom.’ The worldwide school is currently waiting for the inspectorate’s result, but so far everything has always been in order, Bianca says. The worldwide school is connected to Foundation NOB (Dutch Education Abroad), which helps maintain education quality abroad.

Round the camper

‘Every situation and location of our students is unique,’ Bianca says. Some children stay for years at one place but some have lessons on a sailing boat or in a camper. On the other hand, the challenges with distance learning for parents seem almost the same everywhere: ‘how do I motivate my child and how do I create structure between learning and playing.’ To mark the school day, parents come up with creative ideas, Bianca says. ‘Like running a lap counterclockwise around the camper to show the school day starts and a lap clockwise to show it ends.’ Parents also use caps or hats to show the start of the ‘school day’.

Bringing structure

Bianca: ‘The worldwide school gives advice and helps parents, especially with young children, to create this structure. A year planner with 36 lessons weeks gives parents and children a clear overview and the possibility to follow progress. Homework and school work are not separated at the worldwide school; by following the plan, students know when the work is done.’