So Mommy does go to school
Pregnant students and studying mothers drop out by the wayside. At Roc Mondriaan in The Hague, teaching staff shows how to keep this group learning.
Picture: Renate Beense
At the moment half of the pregnant students and studying mothers leave without a diploma, at higher vocational education and university even two thirds. Most schools are still doing very little for this target group, but at Roc Mondriaan in The Hague they are ahead of the pack. The MBO institution has two mother classes attended by young (expectant) mothers from all over the Netherlands. As with an employer, they are given sixteen weeks leave in the mother class. Exam components and internships are suspended until after the leave.
Students and staff share the breast pumping areas
Sick children are taken into account and the school helps to find internships that accompany parenthood. Jelle Marchand from Roc Mondriaan: “Many of our mothers have no partner, no money and few prospects. A basic qualification can help to break that circle, but that is not possible with a standard approach. We try to remove as many barriers as possible. ”
Not all teenage mothers
It is a misunderstanding that all pregnant students are teenage mothers with unplanned pregnancies and many other problems, emphasizes Annemieke de Jong, founder of the Steunpunt Studerende Moeders Foundation. "Just like the image that pregnant students in higher education can manage for themselves." She calls Mondrian's mother classes 'a step in the right direction': “People say: You have chosen a child yourself, so solve it yourself. But these students are just as entitled to education. And because their situation is different, you have to take this into account as a school. "
The Education Magazine visited the mother classes in The Hague. Journalist Marijke Nijboer found out what problems studying mothers encountered and listed the measures that are in the pipeline. Read the article from March issue here.
