Parents appreciate meeting about tailored education in mbo.

Parents appreciate meeting about tailored education in mbo.

Parents of young people with extra support needs want clear information about tailored education in mbo. This became clear on Tuesday October 6 during a meeting organized by Balans, Ouders & Onderwijs and Mama Vita.

The initiative came from Balans, the main organizer. The meeting was greatly appreciated by the parents present. Many of them were grateful for the clarity they received, says Joli Luijckx from Balans.

The evening was for parents of young people who need something different than average at mbo. This can be due to autism, ADHD, dyslexia, dyscalculia or giftedness. Parents were present of young people who are already at mbo, but also of students who are in the last year of secondary education and want to prepare for the switch to mbo.

Documentary with impact

During the evening the documentary about the secondary school transition test was also shown: ‘Can you calculate, don’t count on it!’. Bruni van den Biggelaar made the film. Students speak openly in this documentary about what dyscalculia does to them and how much influence it has. They talked about the secondary school transition test and the consequences it can have for obtaining their diploma. The fact that students themselves speak in the documentary was a unique and meaningful perspective. Many parents therefore said that the film should also be shown at mbo schools.

Parents miss information

The evening showed that many parents have little information or get little information about tailored education in mbo. Schools generally do not provide much information to parents about this, partly because the role of parents changes when their child goes to mbo.

In secondary education parents are still used to communicating with the school, but at mbo schools it is often expected that students arrange it themselves. But especially with neurodivergence or another support need parents can still mean a lot. Until 18 years old schools must communicate with parents, after that the child must explicitly give permission that communication also goes to the parents.

Many parents do not know what they can do and what the law says about tailored education because of this change and the lack of information. Our mbo adviser Patrick Woudstra therefore explained during the meeting how tailored education in mbo is organized.

Learning from each other

Besides the explanation, the mutual contact between parents was also important. Parents noticed that they are not the only ones facing these problems and could hear and share each other’s experiences. It was therefore especially nice to meet each other in person.

Balans would like to repeat the meeting next year, for example as a webinar. “This is valuable and we must do it more often,” says director of Balans Joli Luijckx.