News item | 28-11-2023 | 10:15
In 2022-2023, the second regular school year since corona, bright spots can be seen again. Primary school pupils are learning as quickly as before the pandemic, the proportion of students with study delays is falling and fewer students are dropping out. At the same time, concerns remain. For example, some of the pupils and students still suffer from mental problems. This is evident from the fifth progress report of the National Education Program that education ministers Dijkgraaf and Paul sent to the House of Representatives today.
Impact
Dijkgraaf: “I am happy that the upward path has been started. MBO schools, colleges and universities are doing a great job by limiting the negative consequences of corona with money from the NP Education. But unfortunately the pandemic has had a major and long-lasting impact on the mental health of many students. Before corona, there was already an increase in mental problems among students. That is why it is important that extra attention continues to be paid to student well-being even after the NP Education ends.”
Paul: “Teachers, school leaders and other professionals in and around the school have worked very hard to ensure that students make good progress again after corona. I’m glad that this is paying off. But we are certainly not there yet. It is important that all students feel good about themselves again and are given a solid foundation, because that greatly determines how they develop further in life. That is why we continue to support schools in all kinds of ways. Not only with NP Education, but also with extra help to improve basic skills.”
Primary and secondary education
What is striking in primary education is that the difference in learning delays between students with a lower socio-economic background and students with a more advantaged background is becoming smaller. Corona had increased that gap and thus the inequality of opportunity. While students in the lower grades of primary school are learning as quickly as before the pandemic, this does not yet apply to students in the upper grades.
Students in lower secondary education are still performing less well than before corona. However, in recent years they have become better at reading English texts and their English vocabulary has grown. The percentage of students who pass their final exams is almost back to pre-corona levels. At the same time, the percentage of students with emotional problems continues to grow, partly due to the pandemic, but according to the researchers also due to other social developments and events such as the war in Ukraine, the climate and housing crisis and pressure from schoolwork.
Schools in primary and secondary education have until the 2024-2025 school year to use the NP Education Fund and make up for learning delays due to corona.
MBO and higher education
MBO schools, colleges and universities mainly benefit from the extra funds from NP Education
spent on preventing and reducing study delays, providing more intensive guidance to new students and improving student well-being. This fifth progress report shows that in further education the proportion of students with study delays is declining. This also applies to the number of dropouts in MBO and WO. In higher professional education, the dropout rate of first-year students is still higher than before the corona crisis.
Fewer students also suffer from mental problems, which is partly due to the return of physical education. Furthermore, their motivation is increasingly returning. But student well-being remains an urgent theme. The corona crisis has a long-lasting effect, especially for students who experience serious problems. About 1 in 5 students suffer from (very) poor mental health.
MBOs, HBOs and universities have until this year to use the money from the NP Education, with 2024 as the extension year.
Basic skills
In the meantime, primary schools, secondary schools and schools in (secondary) special education are working hard to further improve basic skills: language, arithmetic, citizenship and digital literacy. Too many students now leave school without properly mastering these skills. The first major basic skills monitor, which was also sent to Parliament today, shows that there is still a considerable distance to be bridged until students are at the desired level.
Since the start of the Basic Skills Master Plan a year and a half ago, 3,000 schools have started working on this energetically, with the help of subsidies. Together they have 835,000 students, one third of the total number of students in primary and secondary education. Schools that need this most receive tailor-made help from teams of, for example, reading or arithmetic experts and writing specialists. At the same time, the Education Inspectorate is also paying more attention to basic skills, libraries are working more intensively with schools to improve reading pleasure – and thus the reading skills of students – and a new curriculum is being developed.
In short, significant steps have been taken, but it will take a long time before this visibly leads to improvements that are lasting, even after the end of the program.
The plan is that from 2026 all schools in primary and secondary education will receive structural funding to improve basic skills and that at the end of the 2027-2028 school year the basics will be in order for all students, so that they can also move on to further education better equipped .
MBO schools are also working hard to improve basic skills. The first progress report for secondary vocational education will be published next spring.