Minister Wiersma wants more control over education quality.

Minister Wiersma wants more control over education quality.

The government sees that it is losing control of education. There is a downward trend in quality. Right now, our education is set up so that control runs via the school governing bodies, which sometimes have dozens of schools under their care. Wiersma tries to regain control to support schools more directly.

Fundamental change in education

The Inspectorate will visit schools more often and not only supervise through governing bodies. The minister will look again at the funding system, which would mean a fundamental change in our education. The role of participation will also be thoroughly investigated.

This is stated in a letter from the minister to the House of Representatives as a reaction to the report Steering on Quality and Equal Opportunities.

The main points from the report:

• Currently, schools receive ‘a bag of money’ and may spend it relatively freely as they see fit. Wiersma wants to thoroughly review and recalibrate this system. He announces working on a new financing tool with which conditions can be set on funding.
• The minister sees a lack of clarity about the governance system and everyone’s role in education. To gain more insight into how roles and responsibilities are currently shaped at school, a broad discussion on governance and participation is being held. The outcomes of this discussion form the basis for fulfilling the coalition agreement task to, among other things, strengthen the participation of teachers and the position and quality of the school leader.
• The minister wants one collective labor agreement for all primary and secondary education and wants governing bodies to fall under that agreement. Currently, they still fall under the law on top income standards.