MBO ambassador criticizes false image
As an MBO ambassador, Sil de Weerd has worked for a more positive image of this education sector in the past year. The appointment of MBO pupils as students is a first step forward.
Picture: Fred van Diem
For a year Sil de Weerd was allowed to call himself that: ambassador. Nineteen years young, he traveled from place to place to contribute to a better image of MBO and MBO students. These students will therefore be called students from 2020. “As a sector, we managed to do that nicely,” says De Weerd. “My ambassadorship may have contributed to this. It was of course very strange and illogical that MBO students were called students. Just as remarkable as those names 'primary and higher education'. Let's call one theoretical and the other practical education from now on. That covers the load much better. ”
The ambassadorship was a time consuming job. City and country by train. Interviews on Radio 1, RTL4 and in the Metro. Talks with many politicians, with a session with Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Minister of Education Ingrid van Engelshoven to top it all off.
In the meantime, De Weerd also successfully passed his final exam: “It was fitting and measuring, my agenda was overcrowded. But I received full cooperation from my school and the MBO council. This is logical, because it is very important that a more realistic picture emerges about MBO. ”
Without these professionals, the country would come to a creaking and squeaking halt
Most MBOs have an ambassador and a national one is elected from among them every year. De Weerd received that honor at the end of November last year. In the past year he has mainly tried to adjust the image of the sector: after all, 40 percent of all workers are MBO graduates. Without these craftsmen, the land would come to a creak and squeaky halt.
Job market
Moreover, MBO students have a stronger position on the labor market than HAVO students, according to De Weerd. “Because MBO students can do something. As Pieter Derks said: soon we will be faced with a country full of communication experts, but no one who knows how to fix a leaking tap.
The MBO is very consciously involved in the subjects of the future
Parents and pupils still too often see vocational training as a form of primary education.
Completely wrongly, De Weerd believes: “In my opinion, it is better to take the route to higher professional education via mbo than via havo, for example. Vocational education students have already gained plenty of work experience through all kinds of internships. So if they come to companies after their higher vocational education, they have a significant advantage, ”says De Weerd, who also disputes that secondary vocational education provides courses for subjects that will soon no longer exist. "MBO is very conscious of the subjects of the future."
He himself considered moving on to higher vocational education, but in the end his passion and the past year have taken him on a different path. “I did the study 'nutrition & information'. That is where my passion lies: helping people make more sustainable and healthier choices in their daily food. I started with Beter (W) eten, my own company that will provide information in this area. To schools, sports clubs and other groups as well as to individuals. You will soon be able to buy extensive nutritional advice from me that is tailored to your person and personal wishes. After an internet intake and a telephone consultation, I will work that out for you at a very attractive price. ”
Network
In De Weerd's perception, the fact that he is taking this path is partly a result of the ambassadorship. Full of confidence: “I have noticed that I can deal well with all kinds of people. From the prime minister to the school cleaners. I also stand in front of a group of people with great ease. Moreover, I have built up a considerable network over the past year. So this company is bound to succeed. ”
He has another important advice for MBO: “Pupils who are very good at something, or who, like me, have a lot of passion for a part of the study, should be given more space at MBO to develop into specialists in that area. part. I had to invest a lot of time in microbiology in recent years. A waste of my time, because I really don't go in that direction. Of course I see the importance of training yourself broadly. But dealing with 'what must and what is allowed' could be a bit looser. ”
And De Weerd's tip for his successor from next month? "Stay close to yourself when promoting MBO as a solid basis for practical-oriented students."
