Criticism of the inspection intervention at Vmbo Maastricht
The decision of the Education Inspectorate and Minister Arie Slob to invalidate all final exams of 354 students of VMBO Maastricht caused a lot of extra unrest and uncertainty. The Central Government Audit Service (ADR) questions last summer's decision.
Picture: National government
This is evident from a published last Friday research report whereby the inspection itself has been examined. The ADR looked at how the inspection acted at the exam drama in Limburg.
Less anxiety
The service concludes that the inspectorate should have made different choices during the crisis. "There were opportunities to use a more deliberate approach and communication during the crisis to cause less social unrest, with ultimately the same effect," the report said.
For example, the inspectorate would not have had to declare all final exams invalid. It would have been better to wait first and let the school board postpone the graduation ceremony. After the whistleblower's report on 14 June 2018, the inspectorate should also have first completed the entire investigation into all missing tests and administration of the school exams and had to make a proper, well-considered assessment of all - legal - pros and cons of the decision.
Signals
In addition, the audit service points to the many signals that the inspectors received from parents about class cancellation. The inspectorate should have made more inquiries about the reports and all the problems in order to find out that there was a connection between the lessons that dropped out and the execution of the school exams. The Inspectorate could also have seen that the PTA, the assessment and closure program, was more complicated at VMBO Maastricht than at other schools.
The minister sets his letter to the House of Representatives that declaring the final exams invalid was the only good option. It guarantees the value of the diplomas. "At that time there was no other option than to pull this emergency brake," said the minister. 'Our starting point has always been: we want as many students as possible to be able to get a diploma and not have to take another year.'
Very weak
In addition to the ADR investigation report, the inspectorate published its own eleven investigations into Limburg Secondary Education (LVO) schools. These schools were examined for educational quality as a result of the exam drama. LVO has a total of thirty schools spread throughout Limburg.
The show reports that seven school departments of LVO are very weak. It concerns six departments of VMBO Maastricht and the VMBO cadre of the Sophianum. Six departments also score insufficiently and there are shortcomings in the PTA in two LVO schools. The Inspectorate also sees that in many schools there is insufficient insight into the teaching time, quality assurance and supervision of the pupils.
The board
The inspection did too research into the board of LVO and accuses the directors of 'serious negligence'. "The competent authority provides broad guidance and does not sufficiently check the results in practice," the inspectorate writes. Too little of the locations is fed back to the management and there is a lack of quality culture. Moreover, the board made too little adjustments and not on time.
The minister lets in his letter to the House know that LVO, together with the ministry, the inspectorate and the employers' association VO Council, will work to improve the quality of education. A number of measures have been taken to make this happen. For example, a team of experts is flown in to help with the quality of education, the board receives support from the secondary education council, the administration of the schools is put in order so that gaps can be found earlier and the inspectorate closely monitors all efforts to improve quality.
Last June, an exam drama came to light at VMBO Maastricht, one of the LVO schools: 354 exams were declared invalid. A few weeks ago stepped chairman of the board Andre Postema, the school said in a message.
Next Wednesday, the House of Representatives will debate with the education ministers about the letter, the reports and the conclusions of the Central Government Audit Service.
