Winny: ‘Normal is never’.

Winny: ‘Normal is never’.

Children Niek and Lotte of Winny van Hoek are about to start mbo. ‘When they were in primary school I often called Ouders & Onderwijs because things did not go well and it was the same at secondary vocational education. Now they make the switch to mbo and it starts again. Normally it does not happen,’ she says.

‘As a parent you stand on the sidelines in mbo and that must change,’ notes Van Hoek. Her son Niek will start after summer with an mbo Beroeps Begeleidende Leerweg (BBL) course. ‘You have to keep pushing. When you call the school, the responsible say they are busy with it. I spoke to a duty of care coordinator, but it takes a long time before it gets going. I trust it will be fine in the end. But I am not a mother who stays in wait-and-see mode. I will follow up, keep calling and want to know exactly how it is.’

Learning in practice

In a BBL course, students work at a recognized training company and sometimes follow lessons at school. Learning mainly happens in practice. For Niek this is quite a big step. ‘I want to make clear how this looks,’ explains Van Hoek. ‘Together with the employer I want to look at the policy. I would like to have that on paper. So not only the employer and school keep the line short, but they also involve me.’ Niek comes from special education and cannot handle many stimuli well. ‘He is used to a small school. At the new mbo school he can get a key for a side door. Then he does not have to pass through all those hallways. That is all possible.’

Maneuvering and discovering

Much is still unclear. ‘How it will go is still a big question for us. You get the information at an open evening, but my son still has to do a trial day. That is somewhere in spring. Then I will know how he experiences the education and if other things are needed.’ Something else stood out during the open day. ‘Mbos are not small schools, they are actually factories. Then I think: how will that go? But well, the BBL course is only one day, so he will probably get through that.’ Van Hoek shows no doubts in front of Niek. ‘I am very reserved about that. And only say: this is what you want, try it and go for it. That is also necessary, because if you see obstacles, he will see them too. Let him maneuver and discover.’

Broad plus

Also daughter Lotte goes to an mbo school, but that registration also did not go smoothly. ‘The course at a roc she wanted to follow was first only offered in the BBL variant. So a 16-year-old girl must work almost fully. She is much too young for that. Come on!’ She therefore goes to another roc. ‘There they still offer the Beroeps Opleidende Leerweg (BOL), but they call it broad plus. So all levels are in one class. How many students that will be, they cannot say yet. Luckily it is only about the subjects Dutch, English and mathematics, for vocational subjects the class is split up.’

Money issue

It is a complaint you hear more often. That mbo schools want to save costs by offering as many lessons as possible together. Efficiency above all. ‘It is probably a pure money issue,’ confirms Van Hoek. ‘You cannot put it on a teacher shortage. That does not make sense to me.’ Mbo schools may be more transparent about financial matters from her point of view. ‘I want to know clearly where the money goes and what it is spent on. If you know how it is divided, you also have more insight as a parent.’

It is questionable if the mbo schools are willing to do so. Still Van Hoek remains optimistic. ‘There are twists in this story that make you think: education can never go normal. Yet I trust it will be fine soon at that school factory.’