The state of education 2022: more attention for basic skills needed.

The state of education 2022: more attention for basic skills needed.

Much still needs to be done to bring basic skills in language, math, and citizenship in order. That is written by the Education Inspectorate in the annual report 'The State of Education'. The report was handed over Wednesday afternoon to education ministers Dennis Wiersma and Robbert Dijkgraaf.

Skilled teachers and school leaders

In almost all education, the language and math skills of students are declining. More and more students enter secondary education with a low reference level. This applies to both Dutch reading skills and math. To get these basic skills in order, education staff must be trained on purpose. For this, there must be enough skilled teachers and school leaders. Only then can the quality of education improve.

Corona crisis

The report gives a lot of attention to the corona crisis. The Inspectorate mentions the resilience of education but also sees problems in the development of children and students. Although the Inspectorate called in 2021 to renovate education and not just repair it, this had to be adjusted due to corona measures. According to the Inspectorate, renovating must come up soon. Especially the teacher shortage makes catching up on delays hard. The shortages ask a lot from teachers, the inspectorate notes. They must be flexible and work more hours.

The Inspectorate also warns that because of the corona crisis the value of the school diploma is under pressure: ‘To guarantee the diploma value now and in the future, this requires exams as we knew them before the corona crisis: with a school exam, with a central exam with constant standards and without compensating measures.’

School guides

The report also shows that about two thirds of school guides do not comply with the rules. For example, it is required to state that if parents do not pay the parental contribution, this cannot lead to excluding participation in activities. Many schools omit this. It also goes wrong in registering students with support needs. The report says: ‘For 0.5 percent of students in primary education and 2.1 percent of students in secondary education a development perspective plan is registered, while an estimated 8.2 percent of students in regular primary education receive extra support.’

Complete report

The State of Education 2022 is a broad report covering the entire education field. Do you want to read more? Download the complete report. Watch the presentation below.

 

Conference

The Education Inspectorate will organize a conference about The State of Education in Rotterdam on May 11th. It will last that Wednesday from 3:30 pm to 8:00 pm. Do you want to join as a parent? You can sign up.

Staat van de Ouder

Ouders & Onderwijs published at the same time the Staat van de Ouder. An annual report, this year on the transition from primary school to secondary school. It shows that parents do not want three-year bridge classes with children of all levels in one class, as the Education Council advised earlier. Only 17% of parents support this. The largest group of parents (42%) prefers two levels in one bridge class. Everything is lined up on our theme page about The Staat van de Ouder 2022.