GroenLinks wants to significantly reduce secondary education time
GroenLinks wants to reduce teaching time for secondary school students by 15 percent in the long term. According to the calculation by the Central Planning Bureau (CPB), the party thus booked structural savings of one billion euros. The proposal has gone unnoticed so far, it is not in the election manifesto.
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A spokesperson for GroenLinks confirms the plan after questions from the Education Magazine. The reduction in teaching time should be phased in on the Party's side and would be completed in six years' time.
GroenLinks' intention was not yet noticed among the many calculations that the CPB sent to last week outside. According to the report 'Choices in map 2022-2025', the party wants to reduce the number of 'teaching hours' in secondary education from '938 to 800'. "This change will be 0,4 billion euros in 2025 and structurally 1,0 billion euros," the report says.
In the election program of GroenLinks, in which the party lists seventeen education plans, there is nothing to be found about it. Strange, because it is a radical proposal with a major impact.
Reduce working pressure
“We want to reduce the workload for teachers by reducing the number of teaching hours,” the press officer initially says. He refers to the report 'Broad social reconsideration', in which official working groups had ideas last year explain that can improve the quality of education. For example by having teachers teach less. "That's what this is about," said the spokesperson. “The CPB calculates that this will generate money, but that is not the aim of the measure. Teachers have more time for preparatory work and personal attention for the child. ”
We want to reduce the workload for teachers by reducing the number of teaching hours. The CPB calculates that this generates money, but that is not the purpose of the measure
According to the CPB, GroenLinks, together with PvdA and D66, is one of the parties that promise to invest the most in education after the elections. The party wants 8,4 billion euros under the line invest extra, on top of the existing situation. For example, the party is earmarking 900 million to close the pay gap between primary and secondary education and 600 miljoen for, among other things, reducing the workload in secondary education. Other parties are also investing to combat the workload for teachers. But GroenLinks is the only party in the CPB calculations that simultaneously saves a billion euros with fewer teaching hours. And so the question is: how did GroenLinks get that 'teaching hours' reduction from 938 to 800?
Intermediate
In the evening the spokesperson comes back to it. He texts: “Those 938 hours are the average number of teaching hours per year for all levels in secondary education. That is something different from the number of hours of lessons that teachers teach. ”
So teaching time. After all the fuss about the thousand-hour norm and housing obligations in the past, teaching time was changed in 2015. Since then there is no longer an hourly standard per year, but a minimum for the entire training period: 3700 hours for VMBO (4 years), 4700 hours for HAVO (5 years) and 5700 for VWO (6 years). With some figures it becomes clear how GroenLinks has calculated: the average hour standard per year is 925, 940 and 950 respectively. The average of these is indeed 938 hours.
With some figures it becomes clear how GroenLinks calculated: the average hour standard per year is 925, 940 and 950 respectively. The average of these is indeed 938 hours.
The Netherlands has a high number of compulsory teaching hours from an international perspective, says the GroenLinks spokesperson. In other countries, pupils are taught less, but the results are comparable. The party wants to reduce the number of teaching hours in secondary education and thus bring it in line with other countries.
Calculating back: if you were to reduce the hour standards by 15 percent, you would end up with approximately 3145 hours (VMBO), 3995 hours (HAVO) and 4845 hours (VWO). For the entire program, this is a reduction of 555 hours (VMBO), 705 hours (HAVO) and 855 hours (VWO).
Such an intervention is not possible without changes in the educational program itself, as the report Broad social reconsideration has already made clear. How does the party envision this? Shouldn't you first work out the educational consequences before you book in the savings? And why is there nothing about it in its own election program?
Learning goals
Later in the evening, the information officer emphasizes that GroenLinks is also investing 600 million in reducing the workload in secondary education. And he reiterates that a reduction in teaching time brings the Netherlands more into line with other countries. “This may indeed include adjustment of the learning objectives, which is why we are taking the time to do so.”
The proposal did not just come out of the blue, he texts. He sends a link to an article on the party website. It states: 'GroenLinks wants to give teachers the space to do their work again; through smaller classes, less management and fewer teaching hours. That way, teachers have more room for lesson preparation, development and they can give more attention to their students. '
Only: that is about fewer teaching hours for teachers. It is not stated that these will be achieved by reducing the teaching time for students. Isn't that the crux?
“Good point, we could have written that down better”, the information officer says. “For the record: this is not an overnight change, we take the time for that. The CPB assumes that this can be achieved by 2027. ”
You will find an extensive overview of the investments per party here.
