State of the Parent 2022: Parents do not want three-year broad first form classes.

State of the Parent 2022: Parents do not want three-year broad first form classes.

Parents do not want three-year broad first-year classes with children of all levels in one class. This shows from the research of The Staat Van De Ouder 2022, fully focused on the transition between primary and secondary education. Most parents support two levels in one first-year class. Furthermore, many parents want students to follow gym and citizenship together and want the transition between levels to improve. You can read all details in the brand new report The Staat Van De Ouder that has just been published.

Read more on the theme page State of the Parent.

There is a lot of political discussion about the age at which children in the Netherlands are placed by level. This often happens at age 12 or 13, when children go to secondary school. Most parents (58%) think the age children go to secondary school is fine. One year later is also okay according to 23% of parents. A move at age 15 or later, as is common in many other countries, has the support of only 5% of parents.

Too little choice outside the Randstad

We also studied the supply of secondary schools in the region. Almost one in three parents thinks there is too little choice. There is not enough supply nearby (18%). Or there is enough supply, but the differences between schools are too small (12%). It is striking that the problem outside the Randstad is much bigger. There nearly half of the parents find the supply nearby insufficient. In northern Netherlands, as many as 51% of parents experience too little choice of secondary schools.

 

Lobke Vlaming, director Ouders & Onderwijs: ‘The transition from primary to secondary education is an important moment when parents face practical questions and problems. What strikes me in the research is that parents are positive about the idea of broad school communities where children of all “levels” meet each other.”

 

School advice and final test

In The State of the Parent we also asked what parents think of the school advice, the final test, and the move to secondary education. Read all research results in The State of the Parent 2022. Also check our special theme page.

About The State of the Parent

The State of the Parent is an annual publication by Ouders & Onderwijs about what parents think of Dutch education. Every two years, we do widely representative research on a current theme. In The State of the Parent 2022, the focus is the move from primary school to secondary school.

Webinar

On Thursday, April 21, we organize a webinar in which we explain the content of The State of the Parent. Of course, there is also room for questions, discussion, and more input. The webinar is from 16:00 to 17:00. Interested? Sign up.

Parent panel

If you also want to give your opinion on important education themes, you can sign up for the Landelijk Ouderpanel. We regularly do research among parents where you can have your say.