'More people urgently needed in MBO (intermediate vocational education)'
The quality of MBO education is under serious pressure now that many lessons and internships are canceled due to corona. The AOb wants more hands to be put in the MBO institutions to support the teachers and to enforce the XNUMX meter rules. "Teachers are not boas."
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The quality of education has suffered greatly from the corona crisis. 'We are falling through the ice,' warns Adnan Tekin, chairman of the MBO council Trouw. Because because of the XNUMX meter measure, many lessons have to be given online, and those lessons are often not suitable for that in MBO: 'If you want to become a cook, you will have to take cooking lessons, a carpenter must learn to saw. The heart of MBO is practice. '
A second problem is the shortage of - now - more than twenty thousand internships, reports the Cooperation Organization Vocational Education Business Life. Teachers and students are also concerned about their health and about the possible occurrence of study delay.
Chairman Tekin of the MBO Council wants the number of internships to be expanded and MBO students to have more time to graduate. 'Extending the academic year will incur additional costs in the form of tuition fees, student finance and public transport. You shouldn't pass it on to the students. '
We are getting more and more signals that the enforcement of the one and a half meter measures falls on the shoulders of the teachers
AObdriver Tamar van Gelder recognizes the problems all too well. “These are points that we as a union also emphasize in consultations with employers and the minister. The quality of education is under pressure and the workload is increasing. ” The AOb asks the minister to quickly provide more hands in the MBO institutions.
Quarantine
These extra people must support teachers in online education. They can also fill the places of colleagues who are quarantined due to corona, and they can help enforce the one and a half meter guidelines. Van Gelder: “We are getting more and more signals that enforcement also falls on the shoulders of the teachers. But they already have a huge workload and what's more: teachers are not boas.”
Finally, Van Gelder calls on the minister to be flexible in case of study delays. "Check whether extension of the academic year or studies is possible without negative consequences for the students or the study programs."
First year students
In the meantime, reports in the regional press show that the internship shortages differ per study program and per academic year. For example, it is extra difficult to find internships for first and second-year students, because they require a lot of guidance in the workplace and do not bring much professional experience that directly benefits the internship company.
In addition, training courses in so-called 'contact professions' are hit hard, as are training courses in the hospitality industry and aviation. This is how student Nadeche van Viegen explains in it Algemeen Dagblad that she has to do it for the time being with an 'internship' in the cabin simulator at school. 'We have a cabin, airplane seats, a trolley and a demo kit. We now practice extra with that. ' KLM has now offered 'double deck' internships, where two students do an internship in one place.
Simone Boekhorst Kleijn, team leader Tourism, Aviation & Facilities at roc Rijn IJssel in Wageningen, tells in the AD that she has one more trump card up her sleeve for her aviation students: an internship in an international hotel. 'But we don't want to do that too much either, because then we will again oppress the catering students who need an internship.'
Graafschap College in Gelderland is currently scrapping all physical lessons for students in healthcare
Internships in healthcare are a different story. Because on the one hand, students should not infect patients and clients, but on the other hand, trainees are desperately needed now that healthcare is all hands on deck. To resolve this dilemma, Graafschap College in Gelderland has provisionally scrapped all physical lessons for students in this sector. For the time being, these students are only allowed to follow digital lessons, the Gelderlander. As a result, students can infect each other less, or so the idea is, and the internships can continue for the time being.
Eindhoven
Last summer, a campaign was started in Eindhoven to recruit more internships for MBO and HBO students. That had an effect: there were many responses from companies. The shortages were quickly resolved at Fontys University of Applied Sciences, but not in MBO, alderman Stijn Steenbakkers told the Eindhovens Dagblad. And that was last summer: the shortage in the city has now risen to about a thousand MBO internships.
Amsterdam is investing half a million euros in internship and training places for MBO students in Amsterdam healthcare institutions, De Telegraaf reports. From next year, a hundred extra MBO students can make use of it every year. The growing group of side-entrants who want to work in healthcare can also benefit from the educational places.
