VSO exams meet with resistance from the House of Representatives
Despite a barrage of questions, education ministers Arie Slob and Ingrid van Engelshoven were barely in trouble today during a seven-hour debate in the Lower House about the consequences of the corona crisis. With the exception of one point: a majority opposed the decision to allow the state exams in secondary special education to continue.
Picture: Live stream Lower House
While the central written exams in regular secondary education have been scrapped, the state exams for VSO students are still scheduled from the end of May. This leads to a lot of misunderstanding among coalition parties, among others. D66 and CDA want to vote on a motion next Wednesday calling for diplomas to be based on school results achieved - read: to scrap the VSO exams. Minister Slob, who defended the exam decision, said at the last minute that he would come up with a new letter before the vote.
Unsustainable, you can't do this to the students. The students last saw a teacher up close on March 13
“Unsustainable, you cannot do this to the students. The students last saw a teacher up close on 13 March ”, said CDA MP Michel Rog. “It is precisely these students who have an interest in the proximity of a teacher,” said D66 MP Paul van Meenen. Rudmer Heerema (VVD): “If I had not been educated for two months as a VWO student, I would not have passed my exams. We now ask that of VSO students. ”
Scrapping the exams is not an option, says Minister Slob, partly to safeguard the value of the diploma. According to him, possibilities have been sought to extend resits. “These students are not a forgotten group for me. Anyone who goes for the diploma and needs a resit can get it. ”
Expectations
Vso schools will reopen from the beginning of June at the earliest, just like regular secondary education. That is earlier than the month that the Outbreak Management Team (OMT) advised between the reopening of primary and secondary education, Slob acknowledged. He did, however, temper expectations with a bandaged formulation. “The impression that everyone will go back to secondary education on 2 June is not what we now think could possibly happen. We hope that there will be some space, but it will not be too much. Perhaps the schools can also learn something from primary education. ”
But how? Much has not yet crystallized or is work in progress, as was apparent when drawing up the balance sheet. The House of Representatives regularly got little further than 'That's up to the schools' or 'We're working on that'. Such as the compensation for students who experience delays due to the corona crisis (Van Engelshoven: first identify which students are involved), the signals that fewer pre-vocational secondary education graduates are now enrolling in MBO (Van Engelshoven: we will examine the background bring) and the uncertain position of researchers at universities with temporary contracts (Van Engelshoven: the picture is very diverse, we are in discussion with institutions, the movement must come from different sides).
Many questions were about the reopening of primary schools and schools for special (primary) education on May 11. A precondition set by the government is that pupils go to school for whole days - and that for half of the teaching time. The pedagogical and logistical implementation is up to schools, in close consultation with participation councils. Protocols the teams must lead the way.
“I assume that it will also be the same in most places,” says Slob. “And where people deviate, if the situation is slightly different, I expect that the motivation will be supported and that all parties will be involved. We have given that space, balancing between strict requirements and customization.”
And where people deviate, if the situation is slightly different, I expect that the motivation will be supported and that all parties will be involved.
Some of the teachers fear that the workload will only increase will increase. Pupils who stay at home a few days a week must therefore be able to progress - while the teacher is then in front of the class to teach the other half of the group. You cannot expect teachers to teach in front of the class and also provide distance learning, says SP Member of Parliament Peter Kwint.
Slob: “We are not going to implement this for schools from The Hague. It goes without saying that something is provided for children on the days when they do not go to school. That they don't think: Monday to school, Tuesday a day off. But there are limits to what you can do, you cannot ask the impossible of teachers. It is up to the board to see what is responsible and to prevent people from crossing their borders. ”
Inventorying and eliminating backlogs will have a high priority in schools. Summer schools can play a role in this - Slob will come up with ideas later. Striking was the explicit call from VVD member Heerema not to fiddle with the summer holidays. “I don't want teachers to be all overworked in the fall, because that will only cause more problems. Summer schools can be helpful, but let's limit that to the most vulnerable students.”
