School Results Of 15-Year-Olds Are Worrying, Shows Research.

School Results Of 15-Year-Olds Are Worrying, Shows Research.

Dutch 15-year-olds score lower in math, science, and reading skills than four years ago, according to the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA).

The school performance of Dutch 15-year-olds has drastically dropped, according to the recent PISA research. This study measures and compares the skills of 15-year-olds in math, reading comprehension, and science internationally.

Math

Math performance has never dropped so sharply since 2006. Girls have fallen back more than boys and now score lower than boys for the first time since 2012. Despite this, Dutch students still score higher in math than their peers in other European (EU14) countries that take part in the study, as those countries also saw a decline.

Reading skills

Reading scores drop sharply again: almost all EU countries score higher than the Netherlands. This drop in reading has continued strongly since the last PISA study. The Netherlands declined more than other participating EU countries and again scores below average. Both girls and boys have dropped in level, but girls still score higher than boys. PISA has six levels for reading skills, with level 1 being the lowest. To function well at school and in society, students need level 2 according to PISA. One third of Dutch 15-year-olds do not reach this and risk finishing school with low literacy according to PISA.

Science

We have also fallen back sharply in science. This applies more to girls than boys, so girls no longer have an advantage over boys. Although the score in EU14 countries also dropped, the Netherlands no longer scores higher than the average in EU14.

Education quality

The quality of education is under pressure. The PISA study shows this clearly. Parents are very worried about the teacher shortage, missed classes, the decline in reading and math quality, crowded classrooms, and rising work and performance stress. Education quality is a focus point of Ouders & Onderwijs for good reason.

The right to education

Children in the Netherlands must go to school. The government is responsible for making sure they receive good quality education. It is crucial that qualified teachers provide this education. At this moment, the government cannot always keep this promise. We must not accept this. Children have the right to good education that fits their development. Also, all children benefit from routine, predictability, and small-scale settings. Too large classes, missed lessons, and ever-changing teachers put high pressure on children, which does not help their learning process.

Teacher shortage

Especially in big cities, there are now primary schools with huge teacher shortages and in the coming years we will see a rise in shortages across the Netherlands. The four-day school week, classes with more than 35 children, or subjects in secondary education where students sometimes get no lessons for months, are not imagined scenes. The measures taken so far are not enough to fix the problem structurally.

Invest in education

We need structural improvements in our education. By giving teachers a decent salary, lowering work pressure, making classes smaller, and improving teacher training. Teachers also need more time and space for training, for example in Tailored Education.