Education Inspectorate: 'Use the corona crisis for a turnaround'
Schools are less successful in providing all pupils with the basic skills and the inequality of opportunities is increasing. The Education Inspectorate warned about this earlier, but the pressure is increasing due to the corona crisis. The Inspectorate argues for a sustainable improvement of education. AObchairman Tamar van Gelder agrees with that call. "Starting with tackling the teacher shortage, low salary and high workload."
Picture: Education Inspectorate
The Education Inspectorate makes an urgent appeal for improvement in the annual report 'The State of Education 2021' in which the balance is drawn up over the whole of education. "We now have the opportunity to bring about a turnaround," Inspector General Alida Oppers writes in the report.
That balance points in the wrong direction. For example, students who already had problems during the corona crisis had an even more difficult time. They achieved less learning growth and had more difficulty keeping up. Students' basic skills, such as arithmetic, mathematics, reading and writing, are under pressure. For example, 73 percent of the students in group 8 pass the basic level 1F for writing. The law states that this must be feasible for 85 percent of the students. The Inspectorate also finds that too few pupils achieve the higher target level in arithmetic: one third instead of the intended 65 percent.
The inspectorate also sees gaps among 2020-year-olds in secondary education: a quarter can no longer read at basic level. "When so many students don't even master the fundamental level, this is alarming." In secondary education, all pupils at all levels in XNUMX from VMBO to VWO achieved worse scores in arithmetic. School closure is one of the reasons, the inspectorate suspects.
Unequal opportunities
The crisis especially affected children of parents who are less educated or have a lower income. It is precisely this group that started to lag behind. The inspectorate sees a clear difference with students who have parents with higher incomes. Migration background also plays a role, albeit less than the income and education of parents. The inspectorate does see that it is precisely this group of students who are the victims of the abolition of the final test.
About 14 thousand pupils missed out on higher school advice, because only the advice of the teachers counted. Distance learning did not help either, because not every child had a laptop at home and other things that made learning more difficult at home.
Heavy switch
“The inspectorate has established what we - unfortunately - also see in practice: that corona puts a heavy burden on education,” says Tamar van Gelder, chairman of the AOb. “The disadvantage of students is increasing, especially among students who are already in a disadvantaged situation. This increases the inequality of opportunities. ”
The Inspectorate finds what we – unfortunately – see in practice: that corona puts a heavy burden on education
Just like the inspectorate, Van Gelder sees that the jobs of teachers have become tougher. “The distance lessons require more preparation than regular lessons, that preparation is now often done in your own time. Work and private life are intertwined. Teachers do their utmost to keep their education going as much as possible. And these problems are in addition to the problems that existed before corona, such as the teacher shortage. ”
Renovation
In the report, the inspectorate argues for a renovation. Inspector General Oppers believes that we should use the current crisis to tackle matters thoroughly. 'If the ambition of the large-scale repair (the 8,5 billion euros from the National Education Program) is to return education to the state of before 2020, then too many students will not be helped.'
If the ambition of the large-scale repair is to return education to the situation before 2020, then too many students will not be helped
Choices
Focus is needed to improve education and to include all students. 'Dare to choose,' Oppers writes. The government must ensure that the direction is clear and that the preconditions - such as sufficiently qualified personnel - are in order. 'Good education stands or falls with a sufficient number of good teachers. That is precisely why it remains necessary to invest in the attractiveness of the profession and in the quality of the profession. An appropriate salary, targeted professionalization, solid strategic HR policy and a clear vision of the professional group on the exercise of their profession are important preconditions for this, 'says the inspectorate, which also sees that salaries are lagging behind.
Van Gelder agrees with the inspectorate's call to tackle the problems and causes thereof in the coming years. “Starting with tackling the teacher shortage, low salary and high workload. Education quality starts with teachers who have sufficient time to provide good education and who are normally paid for it. ”
Read also the interview with Alida Oppers, Inspector General of the Inspectorate. In it she explains more about the latest State of Education.
