State Secretary Fundend Education Mariëlle Paul (VVD) has urged four schools that they should have the transfer test in their group 8 students. Paul has set the four schools an ultimatum, reporting the ANP news agency and de Volkskrant Tuesday.
The schools in Haarlem and Bergen have had group 8 students and their parents decide for themselves whether or not they wanted to take the mandatory flow test. Paul now states that these so -called ‘refusal schools’ still have to take the test with every student before 7 March.
The flow test is leading within the high school advice for students in their last primary school year. Three schools in Haarlem, and one in Bergen decided earlier this year to have the legally required test taken by students of parents who explicitly chose this. The school boards believe that the flow test is too one -sided on math and language, and not enough on the development of children. Part of the group 8 students did the test.
‘Serious abuses’
If the school boards do not comply with the Tuesday set by Paul, the state secretary threatens with a so -called emergency guide. This can be imposed in the event of suspicions of ‘serious abuses in schools’ and is one of the most serious sanctions that Paul has at her disposal. Through an emergency manual, the government can shorten the schools for them necessary subsidies.
In a telephone conversation, state secretary Paul told the school boards that “they act in violation of laws and regulations” and that they deprive their students the chance of “an honest adjustment” of the school advice.
Paul announced that there is an investigation from the Education Inspectorate to the four schools, and that ‘it cannot be’ that management themselves determine which legal requirements they adhere to. The Education Inspectorate previously summoned the schools to take the test with all children, on pain of a fine.
Legal steps
This week it is spring break in the Noord region, including the schools in Haarlem and Bergen. As a result, they would only have the chance to take the test before 7 March in the two weeks after the holidays. For the time being, the school boards are not planning to take the test within the period and are considering legal steps.
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Dilemmas through the flow test: Schools reluctantly participate or drop out because they no longer trust the test – NRC
It is the second time that the new flow test has been taken throughout the Netherlands. In 2024 the old model of the Cito test was replaced, which then led to much unrest within education. State Secretary Paul created the flow test to increase the equality of opportunities in education.
It is precisely this alleged equality that is now being disputed. There are doubts throughout the Netherlands about the reliability of the results and the mutual comparability of the eight different ways of tests from which schools can choose.
Also since last year, the flow test has not been used as a non -binding ‘Second Opinion’ for the provisional school advice that the teacher has given, but is nowadays leading. If a higher secondary school level comes from the flow test than the teacher has advised, the school advice must in principle be adjusted.