Ouders & Onderwijs sends letter to House of Representatives about mbo.
Wednesday the House of Representatives debates mbo. Ouders & Onderwijs asks in a letter for attention to, among other things, parent involvement in mbo, a stronger role for parents in the school participation council, the high school costs for minor students and internship discrimination of students with a disability.
Parent involvement in mbo
Parent involvement is also important in mbo. Most students in mbo are minors. Parents are important in choosing the right education and motivating their children. This leads to better progress in their education and internship. Schools in mbo should pay more attention to this. Especially for students with extra support needs.
The Ministry of OCW and the MBO council state that minor students from 16 years old must make agreements about extra support with school on their own. Even if they disagree with the arrangements or if the school does not meet them properly. Not the parent but the minor child must then start this discussion with school.
Our recommendation: Secure the position of parents in support agreements for minor mbo students.
Parent participation in mbo
Since 2010 students and staff participate in the policy of an mbo school, through a Student Council and a Works Council. With that change in the law, the voice of parents disappeared. Parents can in theory form a voluntary parent council, but in practice not one mbo institution uses this. Parents do not know this is possible and schools do not take initiative to inform them about it.
Our recommendation: Evaluate the school participation council in mbo and pay specific attention to the position of parents.
Basic skills and education quality
Currently teachers in mbo can be ‘broadly’ deployed. That means they do not need to be qualified for the subject they teach. This does not help education quality. Good education starts with good teachers who are trained for the field they teach. If this does not happen, the number of students who leave education with poor literacy and/or numeracy will grow even more.
Children in mbo already get much less general education because they leave secondary education after four years and have already followed many practical and vocational subjects there. This makes it even more urgent to keep paying attention to this in mbo and to make sure they have lessons from qualified teachers.
Our recommendation: Guarantee the quality of lessons in Dutch language, math and citizenship and make the performances of mbo institutions in these areas clearer.
School costs
Mbo students and their parents face many education costs. Not only regular school costs (books, tuition), but also costs for special materials, like chef knives or work clothes. This can add up to more than a thousand euros and is not reimbursed. If an mbo student unenrolls after October 1 of the school year, the student still owes the full tuition, no matter if it was their choice or a forced unenrollment.
Our recommendation: Make education free for minors with compulsory education duty for parents and students, no matter what type of education they follow. Calculate tuition refund or payment proportionally if a course is ended early.
Student finance and supplementary grant
The Nibud mbo study (2021) shows many mbo students miss out on income. They often have rights to allowances but do not use the arrangements. This mainly applies to students on level 1 and 2. This makes them financially vulnerable. It is worrying to see that students on level 1 and 2 are more often in debt than other students.
Our recommendation: Create clarity about further actions on the financial problems of mbo students.
Internship discrimination
It is important that every student has an equal chance to find an internship. Through the advice point and the Parent panel we regularly receive reports about internship discrimination based on support needs or disability.
Our recommendation: Include this group explicitly in the work agenda and the campaign #KIESMIJ.
Ouders & Onderwijs is for all parents with children of school age. Through our advice point and Parent panel we receive much information from parents about their children and schools. Read more here.
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