Lorentz Lyceum quits school subject German at VWO
The Lorentz Lyceum in Arnhem will stop offering German in VWO next school year, Rector Willem Zwart reports. Too few students chose German, they prefer to learn Spanish.
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From next school year, the new class of pre-university secondary school students at the Lorentz Lyceum will no longer be able to follow German. “The course ends at VWO in the lower and upper years,” says Rector Zwart. The students who now have the subject in their package, complete it until their final exam. "The profession will gradually be phased out in the coming years." Havists can continue to choose the profession.
Little enthusiasm
In consultation with the participation council, the school came to the decision to delete German from VWO. Zwart: “Over the years, many languages have been added to VWO, such as Spanish, which is a regular subject at our school. Chinese is also an optional subject, as are English, French, the classical languages and bilingual education. Every school has to make choices. We saw a lot of enthusiasm for the subject of German decline. Last year there were seven students who wanted to take the course. French and Spanish are more popular. ”
Last year there were seven students who wanted to take the course. French and Spanish are more popular
A working group looked at the criteria for the survival of courses. In addition to the student numbers, the international profile of the school is also important. "We focus more on the world than on the region or Europe where German is more important." According to the rector, the German section came up with good arguments that the school is located in a border region and that the Netherlands trades a lot with Germany. “When making this choice, we looked carefully at whether fellow schools of our school foundation Quadraam still offer the subject. Arnhem students who want to follow German can go to these schools. ”
Impact
The choice does have a personnel impact. “It can first be absorbed by the flexible shell – temporary contracts,” explains Zwart. “There is also a natural turnover and our school still teaches German to current students. If people become redundant, they can go to schools of our foundation.”
In addition to the subject German, the subjects social sciences, business economics and drawing will also disappear in the upper years of pre-university education.
