Fewer excellent schools added.

Fewer excellent schools added.

The education inspectorate announces today that 62 schools receive the excellence title. That is a decrease compared to last year, when 79 schools had it. Schools must apply themselves and it seems the honor is less popular. Given the criticism, that is not surprising.

Numbers

The numbers still sound quite positive. Today 16 schools joined in primary education, 40 in secondary education and 6 in special education. That brings the total number of schools with the excellence title to 190, with 54 schools in primary, 116 school types in secondary and 20 schools in special education. On the website of the education inspectorate there is a map, showing exactly which schools they are.

Registration

In 2012, it was all created by then education minister Marja van Bijsterveldt. The procedure is clear. Every year school governing bodies can register with the education inspectorate. They must explain thoroughly why their school is excellent. An independent jury then judges if that is right. If so, the school may carry the excellence title for three years.

Criticism

But there is much justified criticism. Only schools that were rated good and do well in many areas can register. Problem schools are not encouraged to try harder, while they deal with many students needing care. Such schools should be encouraged more with the introduction of Tailored Education to get homebound students back to class. It is unfair that only the superior schools get extra attention with this title.

Criteria

The criteria are also debated. Many qualities are not considered. For example, if the school keeps enough contact with parents and if parents are satisfied with the school. Also, measurability is a problem. How do you measure education quality? Choices are made in education. Choices can have negative effects. More tailoring is ideal, but it can also lead to more inequality in class. Is attention paid to those negative effects? All questions without clear answers.

Procedure

There are also objections to the procedure. Schools can register themselves. But many schools do not want to. They do not want to get involved in competition with other schools nearby. Or they think the process takes too much time. Time they rather use to provide good education. So there are many great schools not eligible for the excellence title because their school governing bodies refuse to praise themselves. That makes you think, maybe this modesty should be encouraged more.