AOb criticizes Slob's plan for eliminating corona backlog
Education Minister Arie Slob announced in a letter yesterday how he intends to provide the money for clearing the corona backlog. One-off billions are available for basic education. The AOb is worried. “There is still a lot unclear, the minister outlines an impossible timeline and the approach is set up top-down,” says AObdriver Tamar van Gelder.
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Last February, Slob known that 8,5 billion euros will be made available for education as a whole to make up for the backlog. For basic education, for which 5,4 billion euros has been reserved, he said yesterday know what the process will look like in the coming months.
Analysis
First of all, schools should make an analysis at school and pupil level to see where the bottlenecks are. They have to look at what problems there are, what is needed and then make a 'reasoned and substantiated choice'. This can differ per school. 'You know your pupils best and you can therefore best implement the elimination of delays among your pupils', the minister writes. This analysis must be made next month, so that schools can choose whether to take measures in May.
Education minister Arie Slob: 'You know your students best and you can therefore best implement the elimination of delays among your students'
They can choose from a list of interventions prepared by experts. This creates a school program that can be an extension of the normal school plan. Subsequently, in June of this year, schools will be told what budget will be available per pupil. The money will then be paid out at the beginning of the following school year.
Indication
In his brief Slob now mentions the amount of about 700 euros per pupil for the 2021/2022 school year, but he keeps a heavy blow. 'This amount is an indication, to be assumed for the time being. This does not yet include the higher contribution for schools with many pupils with a higher risk of delays and no distinction is made between different school types. ' It is also possible that municipalities are still thinking about additional programs at schools and that schools with more disadvantaged pupils receive extra money.
According to the minister, the school board receives the money and the administrators are accountable for it. Slob does emphasize that the 'direction' takes place at school level. The participation council must agree and the analysis takes place there. According to Slob, a lot of money will also be released in various subsidy schemes, such as those for stimulating broad classes and the catch-up and support programs. These details will be published later.
AObdirector Tamar van Gelder: 'The timeline is too tight, I see an enormous administrative burden coming at schools'
To care
AObboard member and acting chairman Van Gelder attended the consultation on the approach. The time schedule in particular worries her. “That is too tight, as school teams are very busy at the moment to keep the school running during these corona times. I see a large administrative burden on schools. ” According to her, it is logical that the money should go to the right interventions, but it is again very top-down. “We think it is up to the team. The teachers have to do it, just like with the workload money. This is not sufficiently clear in the letter. It is also not clear enough how participation is guaranteed and what exactly the participation councils are allowed to participate in in the decision-making process. ”
De AOb has also been advocating for some time structural money for good education, in contrast to these one-off resources so that smaller classes are possible, sufficient qualified teachers are appointed and the workload is reduced.
