Up to and including 2027, secondary vocational education will receive considerably more money from the cabinet. In total, this concerns 4.4 billion euros, a large part of which had already been announced in the budget of education minister Robbert Dijkgraaf. More than 360 million euros is really new money, let the department know. Almost half of all students in the Netherlands study at an MBO level, more than 500,000 students.
With the investments, the government wants to show that MBO has ‘a key role’ in the future of the Netherlands, because good professionals are and will remain sorely needed for various sectors such as healthcare, the housing market and the energy transition. “The equality of all students, including senior secondary vocational education, is paramount to me. We really need all forms and talents, they really stand at the bar and deserve the appreciation that is due to them,” said the minister.
Dijkgraaf will present his multi-year plan, in which he will divide the extra money, on Thursday during a working visit to ROC Nijmegen. He will talk with students about the position of MBO and education quality, research and innovation, internships and the connection with the business community. Most of the extra money goes to these priorities.
Student discounts
To encourage MBO students, there will be, among other things, excellence programmes. Dijkgraaf also calls on companies, municipalities and student associations to allow MBO students to participate in student associations and sports clubs, and that they can benefit from student discounts, just like students in higher education. In addition, he is making at least 50 million euros available to remove the barriers between different education programs such as VMBO, MBO and HBO. They should match up better.
At the beginning of November, the House of Representatives will discuss additional investments in MBO. After that, Dijkgraaf wants to sign the MBO work agenda for 2022 to 2027 with all those involved, such as students, teachers, municipalities and the business community.