News item | 15-07-2022 | 4:00 pm
If you are missed in class, the teacher will immediately ring the bell; if you really can’t come to class, it will come to you via a digital school; and if you need extra support at school, you can discuss this yourself. This is stated in the plan of Minister Wiersma for Primary and Secondary Education to reduce the number of people sitting at home. The cabinet is allocating €15 million for support centers that will help parents and young people find a suitable place at school. With two bills, Wiersma wants to ensure that the school can intervene more quickly in the interest of the child.
Minister Wiersma: “School is the place where you develop and make friends. Imagine not getting those opportunities because you can’t go to school. That determines your future. Every child deserves a good education. I therefore want to do everything I can to ensure that you can continue to go to school and continue to develop.”
€15 million for the start of parent and youth support centers
For parents and students it is sometimes a search for a suitable place at school. The cabinet is therefore allocating €15 million to set up so-called parent and youth support centers from within the context of appropriate education. These independent support centers inform parents and pupils, among other things, about the support in their region and about their rights and obligations. Every partnership should have such a support center this summer. The extra money will be used to ensure that these support centers can also provide practical advice and support to parents and students.
Also extra measures for better appropriate education
Setting up parent and youth support centers is one of the measures to improve appropriate education, with the aim, among other things, of reducing the number of pupils who do not attend school. Minister Wiersma wants students to be able to quickly participate in the discussion about possible support. Now it is often decided for them what help they get. He therefore wants to make haste with the bill that regulates this so-called right to be heard. This bill Strengthening the position of parents and students in appropriate education will therefore be consulted before the summer holidays.
Encouraging Presence
To ensure that children can continue to develop and to prevent them from dropping out for a long time, it is necessary that schools know exactly what to do if a pupil is absent. They must have a good absenteeism policy and have insight into patterns of presence and absence. If you are immediately missed when you are not in class, the school can take action before absence becomes a concern and discuss a solution with children and parents in good time. Skipping school and being sick for a few days can already foreshadow that a child will drop out completely. It is necessary that schools keep track of the total presence and absence of their children. If you are absent for a valid reason, for example because you are ill, then a school does not have to keep track of that.
In order not to burden schools with endless administration, registration becomes easier. The Bill for Reducing Absenteeism will also be consulted before the summer.
Towards a digital school
The basic principle remains that students go to school physically as much as possible, but digital distance learning will become available for those who fail or are at risk of dropping out. For some subjects, these students can digitally join lessons from their own school. Digitized lessons from other schools will also become available. In this way the students remain involved in school and the transition from home to the classroom is reduced. They can use this after the summer.
This is the prelude to a fully digital school where students (temporarily if possible) follow fully digital education if there is really no other option.
In implementing the absenteeism plan, Minister Wiersma works closely with Minister Robbert Dijkgraaf of Education, Culture and Science and State Secretary Maarten van Ooijen of Health, Welfare and Sport.