Petition to count the math exam mbo
The math exam in MBO must count towards the diploma as soon as possible. That is what math teachers in MBO want from 2018/2019. They have just presented the Permanent Parliamentary Committee for Education with a petition requesting this and which has been signed more than a thousand times.
One of the initiators of the petition is Kooske Franken, she gives math lessons at Albeda College in Rotterdam and trains math teachers for secondary vocational education. “It is not easy to teach a course that does not count. Students are unmotivated and management prefers to spend the money and time on subjects that do count for the exam, such as Dutch. ”
Count in
In October 2015, the outgoing State Secretary for Education Sander Dekker left know that the math exam in MBO does not count for the exam for the time being. He wrote: 'Until the academic year 2020-2021, pupils have to take the math exam, but the result does not count.' MBO students do get the mark on a list with their diploma.
In the annual investigation report of the Education Inspectorate The State of Education 2015/2016 the inspectorate wrote that the decision demotivated students. Franken saw this happen himself. “The scores collapsed. On the computer, I saw students just keep clicking on 'next question', because they knew they couldn't fail. ”
It is not easy to teach a subject that does not count. Students are unmotivated and management prefers to spend the money and time on subjects that do count for the exam.
School boards also set different priorities, according to Franken. "For example, they schedule more hours for the subject of Dutch, because that does count." In de petitie the initiators write that in many schools investments in teachers, classrooms, support programs and space in the educational program are slowly being phased out. The sense of urgency for arithmetic has decreased.
That is why Franken started the petition last August, also on behalf of the BVMBO calculation teachers platform. In that petition, the MBO teachers ask what the perspective is for calculating in MBO. Do teachers still have to make an effort to further develop their math skills or is that a waste of effort?
Decision
With this, they hope that the House of Representatives will make a clear decision this autumn about counting the mathematics course. If it were up to them, this will count as of 2018/2019. Investments must also be made in the professionalization of math teachers. Franken: "The calculation is not taken seriously until it counts in the pass-fail rule."
In 2007 schools and companies sounded the alarm about the language and numeracy skills of students. In 2010, the Ministry of Education introduced reference levels for language and arithmetic.
