JOB: 'Ranking list of the MBO selection guide gives a distorted picture'
Youth organization Vocational Education no longer participates in the Keuzegids MBO. The annual rankings do not help improve education, believes JOB. Keuzegids warns that this threatens equality of opportunity. Tomorrow the guide will appear without the judgment of students.
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Every year, the editors of the Vocational education guide tens of thousands of secondary vocational education courses measured. By comparing all kinds of figures, the editors arrive at a ranking of the best schools and top programmes. The opinion of students is the most important factor in this. To this end, the Keuzegids uses data from the JOB monitor, a biennial survey conducted by the Youth Organization for Vocational Education among more than 250 students.
The rankings have been a thorn in JOB's side for years. According to the youth organization, the compilers take too little account of the enormous diversity in MBO. After all, a school with more than 20 students offers education to many more different groups of students than a small school with a thousand students. “Putting these schools side by side is like comparing apples with pears,” says JOB chairman Jelmer Becker. “Moreover, we want to contribute to improving education with the JOB monitor. Punishing schools or playing into the hands of competition is not in line with our objective.”
Putting these schools side by side is like comparing apples with oranges
According to JOB, the ranking gives a distorted picture. For example, programs of schools that do not participate in the monitor are placed at the bottom of the list. “In addition, Keuzegids uses old data because they publish a guide every year.” For example, the 2022 guide is based for 67 percent on the JOB monitor from the 2019-2020 school year, so before corona. “A lot has changed in two years and schools may also have made improvements. It is unfair not to take that into account,” said Becker.
Schools also object to the rankings. Because Keuzegids does not intend to deviate from this, JOB has decided to no longer share the data with them. Keuzegids is now considering conducting its own survey among MBO students. “They are the best judges of the quality of a course because they are now following it. The government therefore also considers it necessary to provide insight into student satisfaction,” responds Julia van Steennis, editor of Keuzegids.
You should not see the list as a settlement
According to her, comparisons are perfectly possible, especially because a distinction is made between ROCs, AOCs and specialist vocational and private schools. “They each have their own ranking. So each school is only compared with similar schools,” she says. And there is nothing wrong with that: “A little healthy competition between schools only benefits the quality of education.”
Medals
John van der Vegt, chairman of the Executive Board of ROC van Twente, agrees with this. “As an organization, we are always looking for ways to improve education. You also learn from each other by watching how someone else does it. The Keuzegids provides a good overview for this. The fact that we can earn nice medals with it is secondary, but there is nothing wrong with that. You should not see the list as a settlement, but as a means to take a critical look at where things can be improved.”
He doubts that schools lose students because of the ranking. “But we are in a unique position in that respect because we are the only institution in this area with the Zone College. I think it's good that students have a choice and transparency is a great asset in that respect.”
Equality of opportunity
According to Van Steennis, the guide is deliberately published every year to give prospective students access to 'all independent, most up-to-date information'. The fact that the JOB monitor appears every two years is a fact that the editors mention. According to Keuzegids, not sharing the data at all jeopardizes equality of opportunity. “Young people from families with fewer opportunities often have less access to good information about further education,” says Van Steennis. “The choice of study is one of the moments when inequality of opportunity is most apparent. It is all the more important to make information about the quality of schools and their programs available to all young people.”
“If they find equality of opportunity so important, they would have made the guide free,” responds Marije Hulsbosch of the MBO council. She also believes that there are many opportunities for young people to learn more. “Kiesmbo.nl, for example, is a free portal that offers a complete overview of study programmes, including information about student performance and satisfaction.”
There are schools that end up as the worst, while the quality is in order, that is not justified
The trade association has never been in favor of the publication and supports JOB in its decision. “How the Keuzegids arrives at an assessment is not transparent to us. There are schools that end up as the worst, while the quality is in order, that is not justified. You may wonder what the Keuzegids really has to add.”
“Schools are happy with our decision,” says JOB chairman Becker. He thinks it lowers the threshold to participate in the monitor. Half of all students are now participating. “With even more response, we get even better insight into the quality of education and we all benefit from that. The only party that is the victim of this is the Keuzegids itself.”
According to the Keuzegids, the publication offers enough information to make the right choice for a new study program even without student judgements. “Think of study success figures, intake figures or labor market data.” The new Keuzegids MBO will therefore be published on 12 January without student assessments. The price is €37,95, 3 euros higher than last year.
The company says it cannot make any statements about the exact circulation, because the guide is consulted through many channels, both online and on paper. For example, the Keuzegids is part of commonly used (commercial) career orientation methods at secondary schools. Van Steennis: “With this we reach thousands of students who get free admission through the school.”
