House of Representatives debates tailored education: goals becoming distant.

House of Representatives debates tailored education: goals becoming distant.

On May 29, acting minister Paul (Education) and state secretary Van Ooijen (public health) spoke with members of the permanent House of Representatives education committee about the state of tailored education. The committee clearly said that the goals of tailored education are becoming more distant. They miss urgency and guidance from the minister to achieve real improvement. The discussion was mainly about the rising number of students staying home and the long waiting lists in special education and youth care.

In preparation for the debate, Ouders & Onderwijs, together with 21 other parent and student organizations, sent a letter to the House of Representatives. Most of the points we raised came up in the debate. We called, among other things, to fix the basics in regular education by better support for teachers and smaller classes.  

Urgency 

The committee members mainly miss urgency and guidance from the minister. The number of children staying home rose sharply again last year. And the increase in waiting lists for special education shows that more students do not get the support they need at regular schools. The minister’s efforts offer, in their opinion, too few leads to fix the conditions needed to make tailored education work in the classroom and through teachers.  

‘Messy fund’ 

Further discussion was about the roadmap to inclusive education, student transportation, and the ‘messy fund’ for initiatives for students who stay home. Several committee members thought the minister used the messy fund differently than the committee intended. The idea was that funding for these initiatives should happen outside existing systems. This was to ensure these initiatives are no longer dependent on partnerships and/or municipalities for funding. In the subsidy scheme proposed by the minister for these initiatives, the partnerships get the funds, so initiatives remain dependent on the partnerships. Beckerman (SP) said he would submit a motion about this. 

Commitments 

The minister made several commitments after questions from committee members. There will be research into the causes of the rising number of students staying home. They will also study if an ombuds role with enforcement power can help with stalled bureaucracy in education.  

Next week there will be a ‘two-minute debate’ where the House can submit motions about tailored education.