Lower threshold for PABO involves risks
Most political parties want to make access to teacher training easier. At the same time, they see bears on the road. Shifting the admission tests to the first year, for example, will put more pressure on first-year PABO students than it already is.
Image: Pixabay
House of Representatives consulted last Tuesday evening with education minister Robbert Dijkgraaf about an experiment in which the threshold for the teacher training college is lowered. Over the next three years, MBO and HAVO students will be allowed to start the PABO without having to pass the entrance tests in geography, history or nature & technology. If students have a knowledge deficit, they can catch up in the first year of their education.
The cabinet hopes that this will lead to more young people opting for primary education teacher training. The House of Representatives thinks this is a good aim, but does have questions. Is the level of the courses not going down? Minister Dijkgraaf does not think so. After all, new students still have to meet the requirements, only one year later. But the political parties are not yet fully convinced. How does he even know that?
bridging year
For example, will there be a difference in the supervision of MBO students and HAVO students, D66 wonders. After all, MBO students in particular visit the PABO less often and the experiment should change that. The SP considers that some students may need an extra year and asks how the minister views 'a kind of bridging year'. Students can then already gain some knowledge about the subject without having actually started the course.
Everyone seems to support the government's efforts. Only the SGP sounds skeptical. The current system with higher admission requirements has not been in existence for very long and it was not for nothing: the teacher training program was overloaded and the level had to be raised. Do those arguments no longer apply?
The PvdA is also concerned about the workload of teacher educators at the teacher training colleges. There are more students with knowledge deficits and they must receive extra lessons and tests. Several MPs want to know who will do that and whether there is enough money for it. The workload for students is also increasing. They can spend less time on other subjects, or have to work harder in an already full year.
Holding back
Thijs Roovers, director for the AOb, thinks it is logical that the government is looking at how it can cope with the teacher shortage from all sides. “The quality of our education is under pressure, the main cause of this is the teacher shortage. Lowering the admission requirements for the teacher training college is a possibility, but one that you have to be very cautious about.”
Recently, the AOb a sounding among primary education staff about the cabinet's plans. The division about removing the pabo threshold turned out to be great. Roovers: “We have forwarded the various points of view and questions from teachers to the House of Representatives. Fortunately, we saw many points from our poll in the consultation.”
rattles
Last night the AOb a meeting about the accessibility of PABO with, among others, Aleid Truijens, columnist for de Volkskrant, but especially with many teacher educators and teachers. Education director Jeroen Goes was present online and wrote a report on the meeting on LinkedIn. The evening made him 'wise and worried'. His conclusion: the experiment is rattling. 'Go back to the drawing board, bring along the wise people from the field (..) and then come up with an adapted plan. If the experiment already rattles, it won't work.'
According to Roovers van de AOb the plans of the government expose a sensitive dilemma. “The quality of education stands or falls with enough well-trained people in the schools. There must be a balance between 'enough' and 'well-educated'. We must not lose sight of this balance, let alone handle it carelessly.”
Education Minister Dijkgraaf will answer questions from the House of Representatives within a few weeks.
Watch the AObmeeting back:
Do you want to join the network of teacher educators of the AOb† Then sign up Renske Vissers
Read the article from the Education Magazine: 'Teachers divided about PABO tests'
