Measures Slob must improve exam organization
Secondary schools do not have their exam organization in order and there are too many differences between schools, says Education Minister Arie Slob. After two exam debacles, at VMBO Maastricht and Calvijn College in Amsterdam, Slob is now taking measures.
Picture: Type tank
For example, from the 2021-2022 school year, all secondary schools are required to have an examination committee, Slob announces in his letter to the House of Representatives. The role of exam secretary will be strengthened in this respect. In addition, the Minister has laid down the points for improvement that have emerged from previous examinations into the law. For example, between schools there is often a big difference between the role and task views of the exam secretaries, little coordination around the PTA, the testing and closing program and too little control over the final nature of the exams. If Slob now establishes in the laws and regulations what needs to be improved, the Education Inspectorate can then pay attention and if it does not enforce properly.
More conscious
Slob is also taking measures around the PTA. From now on, schools must indicate in this document with which components they conclude the compulsory learning outcomes. Slob hopes that schools will look more consciously at the total PTA and that its overload will be reduced.
With two turbulent exam periods in which hundreds of students suffered from shortcomings in the exam organization, I believe that there is work to be done
The minister also wants changes in communication with parents and pupils. He wants schools to explicitly discuss the completion of school exams and grades with students and parents. In this way, according to the minister, schools are more conscious about completing school exams.
No doubt
In his letter to the House of Representatives, Slob writes that he is taking the measures because he does not want any doubts about the value of diplomas. Students should take their final exams with confidence. 'With two turbulent exam periods behind us, in which hundreds of students fell victim to shortcomings in the exam organization, and with a new exam period ahead, I believe there is work to be done,' said the minister.
Accountability
Slob also has measures in store for the school boards themselves to improve the exam organization. He wants boards to be accountable for the choices they have made at their school when it comes to examinations and testing. The first year in which this should be done is 2019, so that it can be looked back on in the 2020 management reports. Slob is also examining whether boards can be given more resources to intervene if things go wrong and whether they can intervene themselves, for example by withholding money from the funding of the school if they do not meet the exam requirements.
