Parents Positive About Their Child’s School, But Tailored Education Below Standard.

Parents Positive About Their Child’s School, But Tailored Education Below Standard.

On 10 April, the Education Inspectorate will publish the state of education. But how do parents feel about the education of their child? Ouders & Onderwijs researched the opinions and experiences of parents. How do they think about the quality of education? Are they worried about the teacher shortage? And is tailored education really tailored? You will find that in the new state of the parent.

Parents about education, teacher shortage and the four-day school week

Parents are generally happy with the quality of education for their children: 71% of parents in primary education are (very) satisfied compared to 60% in secondary education. Parents have a lot of trust in the teacher as the key to good education. They are worried about high work pressure and the growing teacher shortage. One third of students already deal with canceled lessons or even a four-day week. Parents do not want bigger classes and they do not want unqualified people in the class. What do parents want as a solution? More money for education, making the profession more positive, and better pay for teachers.

Parental involvement

Parents are very involved and mostly happy with contact with school. We asked parents about their help at school. The answers show many activities: from checking for lice to crossing guards, from class dad to school participation council member. Parents spend more than 2.5 hours a month on school activities and many want to do even more. Especially in secondary education. Parents in the school participation council still have a task to involve other parents more, as only one in four parents feels represented by the school participation council.

Tailored education

Unfortunately, many parents do not recognize these findings. They have a child who does not ‘fit’ in our education system. Their children are at home or unhappy at school. For their children, the dream of a carefree school time has become unreachable. That is why Ouders & Onderwijs sounds the alarm in this state of the parent about the practice of tailored education. This issue deserves the highest priority from politics, government, and everyone working in education. Many parents who face this feel desperate. Every month, Ouders & Onderwijs receives 500 signals from parents stuck when their child needs extra support. They get passed around and get stuck in contact with the school. Unwillingly, they come into conflict with professionals who do not respect the rights of parent and child. In the worst cases, they face reports to Safe At Home and other forms of coercion.

Voluntary parental contribution

Another concern is the parental contribution. Parents pay about 354 million euros per year to schools for many things: school trips, locker rentals, Christmas celebrations, but also maintenance and cleaning. Even though the parental contribution is voluntary by law, many parents (48%) think they must pay it. Parents say that not paying leads to exclusion from activities in 25% of cases. Meanwhile, nearly 10% of parents say they have great difficulty paying or cannot pay at all.

Research by Ouders & Onderwijs

The state of the parent is a study by the parent organization Ouders & Onderwijs. The report is based on a representative study among more than 1800 parents, mainly from the Landelijk Ouderpanel. It is supplemented by more than 10,000 signals from parents received yearly through the information point.

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