Minister makes no concrete statement about higher scaling MBO
Minister Robbert Dijkgraaf leaves national agreements on the scaling of MBO teachers to the collective labor agreement partners. Nor does he make any concrete statements about compulsory competence for the subjects language, mathematics and citizenship. This became apparent today during the debate with members of parliament, which will be continued next week.
Picture: Type tank
Minister Robbert Dijkgraaf kicked off his first debate on MBO with the House of Representatives committee this afternoon with the wish to strengthen vocational education. Before the summer of 2023, he will come up with a vision as part of the foresight in which he examines the entire system of further education. To improve the image, BoerBurgerBeweging chairman Caroline van der Plas asked for a different name for MBO.
“It is sometimes called Mega Important Education. That is a playful way to give it a different interpretation”, Dijkgraaf replied with a laugh. “But I fully support the idea. Secondary seems to suggest that it is only a stepping stone to higher professional education, while it is an independent direction with its own qualities.” He expects to come up with concrete proposals for this in the first quarter of next year.
Cake
De Deployment of work agenda MBO Dijkgraaf calls the icing on the cake. However, there was not enough time to deal with all the items on the agenda. Dijkgraaf was resolute about the job mix. By defining a specific budget of 142 million euros per year for this, he believes that he sets sufficient frameworks. According to him, social partners can make good agreements about this. This was met with much criticism from MPs.
The function mix did not lead to higher scales, so I think preconditions should be set for this
GroenLinks MP Kauthar Bouchallikht is concerned about the freedom that administrators have and prefers to see the money earmarked, something the AOb wishes. Habtamu de Hoop (PvdA) wants - just like the AOb - stricter agreements about the maximum percentage of lecturers in the LB salary scale and the minimum percentage in LC. “The job mix did not lead to higher scales, so I think that preconditions should be set for this and that is up to this minister.”
Dijkgraaf: “We make the resources available to all ROCs, so not just those in the Randstad. I will set frameworks for this in the work agenda, but I see no more than a stimulating role for myself. I have every confidence that the social partners will achieve this together.” At the insistence of the House, Dijkgraaf promised to come back to this point in the debate next week.
Disturbing
He also promised that further research will be conducted into the professionalization of teachers in language, mathematics and citizenship. According to him, concrete agreements about powers are not on the agenda at the moment. If it is clear what the educational background of the current lecturers is, he may want to further shape the competences. Starting next school year, a monitor must measure language, math and citizenship skills. Dijkgraaf: “We agree that the decline in basic skills is worrying.”
There is also a shortage of teachers in MBO, so everything we can do to interest them in education is important
Dijkgraaf sees the hybrid teaching position suggested by Stieneke van der Graaf (CU), among others, as an option to attract more teachers for MBO. The percentage of lecturers with an appointment in both education and business is 11 percent. “There is also a shortage of teachers in MBO, so everything we can do to get them interested in education is important.”
Internship discrimination
Another point that Dijkgraaf is resolute about is tackling internship discrimination. Despite many objections from VVD member Zohar El Yassini in particular, Dijkgraaf is committed to the school as a matchmakers between company and student. “We have been talking about this for a long time. We are on the side of the pool and no one dares to jump into the deep end, but we will. This proposal is a first step in which the school will look at the qualities and wishes of the student and the work placement company. The 'how' is something we still have to look at exactly and make further agreements about.”
The debate will continue on Wednesday 16 November.
See also: Cabinet allocates extra money for MBO of MBO in The Hague scraps lowest salary scales
