Focus points for digitalization at school.

Focus points for digitalization at school.

Members of the House of Representatives debated digitalization in education. It is a topic we get many signals about from parents. Before the debate started, Ouders & Onderwijs sent all committee members a letter with some focus points.

Below we give the main points. The topics are: recording, sharing, and securing data, distance education for homebound students, and providing digital learning tools free of charge.

Carelessness when sharing data

We see that schools often still handle AVG data incorrectly. Parents have nowhere to go in practice if their children’s data is handled carelessly. It is often unclear at school level what exactly is allowed and what is not. Could the Education Inspectorate play a role here?

Unnecessary recording of data

Parents must provide all kinds of information when registering their child, but it is unclear why schools ask for this and what they do with it afterwards. It turns out that schools often unnecessarily record children’s data. Storing and sharing personal data must have a clear purpose. That must be described specifically. Signing a ‘blank check’ at registration without a clear purpose is therefore not allowed.

Data security

Schools hold sensitive data about children and their parents. We get signals from parents showing that security can improve. If we want the policy on data to really have the desired effect in schools, awareness and care around privacy and data sharing must rise sharply. Schools must actively inform parents about data, privacy, and their rights.

Distance education for homebound students

For many homebound students, distance education was a great opportunity. They suddenly reconnected with education and their peers. Unfortunately, we already see many schools dropping this again. This is bad and we must arrange distance education for homebound students quickly and structurally. That could be done nationally, centralized at one expert organization.

Providing digital learning tools free of charge

Well-functioning digital learning tools have become indispensable, but not every child has them available. The Graphical Calculator (GR) is also indispensable and costs a lot of money. Digital learning tools should, like schoolbooks, fall under the Free Schoolbooks Act and be provided free to children.

For further explanation, read the letter our director Lobke Vlaming sent to the committee members. For more information about the debate, visit the website of the House of Representatives.