Parents tell their story at the education inspectorate. A report..

Parents tell their story at the education inspectorate. A report..

Monday 20 January angry parents will visit the Education Inspectorate in Utrecht. About 35 parents ride along in a bright yellow American school bus. The mood is good. Many experiences are shared and the parents recognize much in the stories they hear.

No exception

Every parent in the bus has a story. ‘Many parents think they are the exception,’ says Tineke Timmerman, one of the founders of parent collective Angry Parents. ‘But we think there are many more children who do not get Tailored Education than is known.’ The action group, which has existed since November, collected over 800 complaints from parents who struggle to find a suitable place for their child in education.

The law

With the arrival of Tailored Education educational institutions are required to give pupils who need extra support the best possible place. ‘The inspectorate does not check enough,’ says Timmerman. ‘They visit schools once every four years. That does not help a parent if there is a problem now. The inspectorate does not handle individual complaints. That is why we are now filing a group complaint.’

Arrival

We arrive at the office of the Education Inspectorate in Utrecht. Spokesperson Bart van de Berg says what we already knew: the inspectorate has no ‘ombudsman function’ and does not handle individual complaints. ‘But we do take these complaints seriously,’ he says. ‘If multiple signals come about one school, we can look at them.’ The inspectorate previously announced that it will check stricter during regular investigations whether schools follow the law on Tailored Education. If there are conflicts where parents think the school does not provide Tailored Education, they can file a complaint or go to the Tailored Education Disputes Committee. ‘We cannot decide who is right,’ says Van de Berg. The Angry Parents are unhappy. ‘Do you know how long that takes? Then my child will still be home for half a year,’ shouts a mother while laughter rings around her.

Invitation

The parents are invited by the Education Inspectorate for a meeting. Angry Parents ask the inspectorate to watch better over the compliance of Tailored Education and raise questions about how the inspectorate views the Duty of care. A parent puts it nicely: ‘As long as schools can run red lights without punishment, you know accidents will happen.’ The conversation shows, among other things, that the Education Inspectorate wrongly assumes a superior position of parents compared to schools.

Agreements

The parents leave with three agreements. The Education Inspectorate will do more with the signals from parents and will inform them about what happens with their signal. Furthermore, the monitoring of the Duty of care has been tightened. And there will be a follow-up meeting with representatives from the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science. The inspectorate is still responding to the results of the parent survey that Angry Parents offered to the inspectorate.

Help

Tired, but with a good feeling, we leave again. These parents have succeeded in bringing the problems with Tailored Education for their children to attention. Yet there is a long way to go to ensure that all children get Tailored Education. Ouders & Onderwijs supports these parents warmly. If your child does not go to school, has problems with admission, or does not get the required support, please consult our website for more information. Or contact our information point at 088-6050101 or vraag@oudersonderwijs.nl.