Great concerns about the consequences of corona for secondary vocational education and higher education
The corona crisis is putting a heavy burden on MBO and higher education. Students are suffering from a psychological burden and the workload among staff is high. Study delay seems to be not too bad at the moment, but it will certainly happen for certain groups of students, Minister Ingrid van Engelshoven writes in a letter to the Lower House.
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At the moment, Minister Van Engelshoven sees little effect of corona on study duration and study progress figures. But that effect will come now that the crisis continues, she says. The bottleneck is the lack of internships in sectors hard hit by the corona crisis.
Effort
According to Van Engelshoven, it is 'realistic' to expect that students in tourism, catering, the arts and parts of the technology and care sector will experience study delay. Internships in these sectors are often postponed and practical training in the courses takes much more time due to the distance rules. 'This is done with great effort and creativity. However, the possibilities are not unlimited. '
The minister is not going to change the final levels of the programs, she writes. 'The final level to be achieved is not in dispute.' She does, however, call the way in which students should end up there 'a point of attention'. MBO institutions were already given the opportunity to replace internships with practical assignments and optional components. For higher education, the minister will investigate which measures are necessary to prevent study delay as much as possible.
Loneliness
While the minister is not yet concerned about the study results, she is already very concerned about the well-being of students. She refers to recent polls in which students say they are more stressed and have more depressive symptoms. Students struggle with the loneliness and self-regulation that distance education demands from them. Studying at home is experienced as difficult, both in secondary vocational education and in higher professional education. Applications for guidance and support from study advisers, counselors and student psychologists are also increasing.
Lecturers find remote teaching a 'poor interpretation of their position'
As far as the teaching staff are concerned, Van Engelshoven regularly hands out compliments in her twenty-page letter. For the rapid transition to digital education, for example, and for their flexibility. At the same time, she cites several studies that clearly highlight pressure on staff, including this one of AOb. In MBO, for example, teachers miss contact with the students. They consider remote teaching to be 'a meager fulfillment of their function' and fatigue is increasing. Also through the combination of work and care duties. In higher education, the workload is 'an obstacle to the implementation of adapted education', according to the minister.
Time-out
Of the 210 million euros that the cabinet made available last week for extra hands in corona time, 52 million will go to secondary vocational education. In addition, teachers in MBO can be given a time-out, the minister writes. During that time, teachers can further develop their skills in online education or they can make choices for their educational program 'with a focus on study career guidance, coaching and the well-being of the student'.
Douwe van der Zweep is AObdirector for higher education: “Praising and empathetic words from the minister are always nice. The fact is that no additional resources have been allocated for higher education. While our colleagues there also need extra support to ensure that education continues as well as possible and to help students as well as possible. That is no different than in basic education. "
