Mergers are once again rolling through MBO
The programs will remain small-scale, is the promise. But fusion drive once again dominates the executive boards in MBO. What about the human scale at an institution that provides education for 40 young people?
Image: Wim Stevenhagen
“I have gone through three mergers. Everyone gets a little more, ”says Dutch teacher Jan Janssen jokingly. “The director and management receive more money. And the shop floor is getting more work. The workload increases with every increase in scale. "
Janssen has been working for Vista College since 2019 (14 locations, 230 courses, more than 13.000 MBO students in South Limburg). Before that, he was at ROC Leeuwenborgh, which was also a merger organization of the MBO combinations Sigma College, Stercollege, Walram College and ROV-Opleidingen. He started his teaching career at the mts / meao Sittard.
With every increase in scale, the workload increases
“There the director knew all the staff and most of the students. In today's organizations you will inevitably end up with technocratic governance. The drivers are far from the workplace, they cannot know their staff. ”
Megalomaniac
A current example is Yuverta, the merger of the Wellant, Helicon and Citaverde green courses. Together they have 2200 employees, 8600 MBO students and 12.000 secondary students, with locations from Amsterdam to Heerlen. Not everyone knows the chairman of the board Annemarie Moons and vice-chairman Titia Bredée, but emphasize that their organization has 53 main locations: the schools. This is where the responsibility lies for the budget and for education, while they are freed from attention-grabbers such as the purchase of energy, cleaning and furniture. “To maintain small locations, you need strong central support for business processes,” says Moons.
To maintain small locations, you need strong central support
The MBO history mentions Amarantis and ROC Leiden, both perished due to megalomaniac investments in real estate. Amarantis was split up, Leiden and Gouda became MBO Rijnland. Because: never again Amarantis, was the judgment, back to the human measure. Teachers and students must know each other, courses must be available regionally, management must have a say. Yuverta is determined to avoid the pitfalls. Moons: “We intend to learn from history. We are only big because our locations are geographically spread out. ” Bredée: “Our employees are better helped in their work, for example in the didactics of online teaching. Being part of Yuverta gives peace of mind at a small location, so you can share tasks if a full-time appointment cannot be paid for a particular subject. ”
Sixes culture
A small-scale environment can be organized, according to the account of Cees Luckhardt, lecturer on citizenship at the Woerden location of MBO Rijnland, economics courses: “All students and teachers know each other. It is a small school, part of the building is ours. We hardly see teachers and students from other study programs. ”
In his classroom he is the boss, but outside it the bureaucracy rules. “In order for a student to pass my course, I have to fill in my name eighteen times on eleven forms. Fortunately, I can stamp my name, but I still have to sign fourteen signatures. The student has to fill in nine forms for this one subject. It all goes in an exam file. ”
Colleagues are also centrally imposed on everything, such as purchased exams and the assessment system for assignments and papers. “I am only allowed to enter sufficient or insufficient numbers in the computer. Of course I still give grades in class, because sufficient / insufficient creates a culture of six. A student came up with a great portfolio, so I gave a 9 that I couldn't enter into the computer. Then that student said: Then I won't do it anymore. ”
Attempts to get the code or numbers back have failed so far.
System change
In the mid-41s, the Netherlands had XNUMX independent MBO courses. The government then imposed mergers to form up to fifty regional training centers, the ROCs. There are now XNUMX left. Mergers are tested for variation in the training offer. That test has never been detrimental to a merger.
“You often notice that policymakers themselves do not have children in secondary vocational education,” says deputy chairman Tamar van Gelder of the AOb. "Involve the parents, especially when it comes to cooperation with secondary education."
You often notice that policymakers themselves do not have children in secondary vocational education
The next wave of mergers is all about that collaboration. The legislative proposal Administrative harmonization vocational education makes new vertical school communities possible: an institution for secondary education and MBO. All vocational education plus mavo can thus end up within one organization. Havo and VWO may not be added if it is up to outgoing Minister Ingrid van Engelshoven, who presents the change as a measure against the consequences of population decline. AObsector manager Hélène Jansen: “Switching from VMBO to HAVO is even more difficult at such a school. From the age of twelve, pupils immediately enter the professional column. "
The combination of practical training, VMBO and MBO is already common in the ten agricultural courses, the AOCs. Yuverta director Moons only sees advantages if ROCs start doing it like that. “We can therefore offer a warm start to MBO. We pave the way, but you can always choose something else if, for example, you want to work in a store. ”
AObsector manager Hélène Jansen: “This is a major change in the system where politicians have not looked closely at the consequences for personnel. Merging leads to all kinds of implementation problems. Rather opt for educational cooperation, that is also possible. ”
The flag out
Collaboration with MBO is perfectly possible without a merger, says Inge Aalberse, teacher at the Helmond practical school. During her entrance training, practical students have the opportunity to continue at level 2 in MBO. “Practical education trains for work, the entrance training is the extra. My colleagues at ROC Ter Aa will tell you if there are new guidelines and if I have any questions, I can contact them. In my class I teach all subjects, the roc takes the exam and I am an assessor. This form of cooperation has added value for everyone, my MBO colleague and I do not need a merger. If my students cannot cope with the entrance course, they stay in my class with their own program. That is not a failure. Practical diploma or entrance diploma, finally they can also fly the flag. ”
Autonomy
AObboard member Van Gelder, who previously worked at the ROC in Amsterdam, fears that the MBO courses are organizing complex problems. “Mergers are okay in case of shrinkage, for example, and if they contribute to job satisfaction and the quality of education. But pay attention to the autonomy of the teacher and the working conditions. The employer can change your location. For distances such as Amsterdam-Heerlen, this means a lot for commuter traffic, our collective labor agreement is not yet properly geared to this. And why the urge for uniformity with a new logo and corporate identity? ”
Pay attention to the autonomy of the teacher and the working conditions
Yuverta had the name developed with the support of Studio Dumbar, which consulted staff and students to go from 150 options to five options. The Executive Board chose Yuverta, which in itself means nothing, but must evoke associations with greenery, cooperation and the human scale.
Competition between MBO institutions is disappearing due to an increase in scale, notes the Limburg Dutch teacher Janssen. His experience is that a merger plan rarely disappears from the agenda. “Before the works council is notified, so much has already happened behind the scenes. The director has already baked it in advance with companies and stakeholders in the region. Financial benefits and innovation are leading. I have been hearing for twenty years that there will be a decline, it is always not too bad. If you want to stop it, you need very good arguments. Study the report, bring in experts and consult the supporters. If you bring everything under one umbrella, you end up with substantially different age groups in your school that you have to serve differently. I don't know if that is so beneficial. ”
