More criteria for determining educational disadvantages
Just looking at the educational level of parents to determine educational disadvantages among students is not enough. The best prediction takes into account other criteria in addition to the level of education, such as the country of origin of the parents and whether a family is in debt restructuring.
That appears from research by Statistics Netherlands commissioned by the Ministry of Education. Last year the ministry asked Statistics Netherlands to investigate a new indicator for the weight regulation. This scheme determines how much extra money schools receive to clear up arrears.
More accurate
Now Statistics Netherlands has come up with a concrete proposal. An accurate prediction also requires the level of education of the parents, the average level of education of the mothers at school, the country of origin, the length of stay of the mother in the Netherlands and whether the family is in debt restructuring. Much of this information is centrally registered. Statistics Netherlands can therefore calculate the educational disadvantage for all students. This means less red tape for schools.
The current scheme only looks at the educational level of parents. Ethnicity has been abolished as a criterion since 2006. Because the average educational level of parents increased in the Netherlands, fewer pupils were eligible for the weight regulation. The Education Magazine wrote in 2015 even though primary education received millions of euros less as a result. The concern that the rising level of education will wrongly lead to a shrinking budget has existed for some time and the CBS report endorses this. The educational level of the parents is not enough to estimate educational disadvantage.
Lost millions
The representative of all school boards in primary education, the primary education council, is pleased with the new definition of Statistics Netherlands and hopes that the cabinet will adopt it. The council does want to return all the 'lost' millions of euros from the past years. 'This money should have ended up with children who needed it most', says Rinda den Besten, chairman of the PO council. The council wants the budget for primary schools to be supplemented, because the CBS formula works out more fairly.
Now it is up to State Secretary Sander Dekker of Education to see how he will implement the policy for educational disadvantage is going to revise. Statistics Netherlands warns against shifts, because not all schools benefit if all criteria are taken into account.
