Parents & Onderwijs sees big risks in vocational education bill.

Parents & Onderwijs sees big risks in vocational education bill.

Parents & Onderwijs sees big risks in the bill to improve the connection between vocational education and the labor market. The bill would greatly reduce the required guided education time in vocational adult education. Minister Eppo Bruins presents the bill to the House of Representatives.

Guided education time

This bill reduces the minimum required guided education time to 500 hours per year. Now, vocational adult education students get at least 1000 hours of guided education, which consists of lessons by a teacher and internship.

The Council of State, the advisory body for bills, is critical of the bill. There is already much space in vocational education for students to work independently without guidance on projects and gain practical experience. Currently, 600 hours per year are reserved for this.  

The risks

Parents & Onderwijs fears the quality of vocational adult education will decline further with this bill. It could create an incentive to organize education mainly without teachers. This is cheaper and very attractive during teacher shortages. We share this message with the House of Representatives in our letter.