News item | 06-07-2023 | 6:00 PM
MBO students deserve equality and more recognition. Minister Dijkgraaf (Education, Culture and Science) writes this in a letter to the House of Representatives. The minister is working on a social revaluation of MBO by, among other things, ensuring equal treatment in legislation and regulations, access to introduction weeks, and entitlement to the same facilities and student discounts.
Minister Dijkgraaf: “I think we should strive for a society in which MBO is valued just as much as other forms of education. Vocational education forms the backbone of our society. We need craftsmanship and practical skills more than ever, for major challenges such as the energy transition. It is high time to give MBO the recognition it deserves.”
Equal treatment
It does not matter whether you follow an MBO, HBO or WO education, everyone deserves equal opportunities in education. Nevertheless, MBO students are still too often treated unequally and undervalued, for example because they cannot fully participate in student life. Dijkgraaf has therefore worked hard for this in the past year a revaluation of MBO in education. He does this, among other things, by equalizing things that students from higher education and university education already received, but sometimes MBO students do not yet, such as the same rules for paying off student debt, grants to go abroad, access to sports facilities and student discounts. . At the initiative of Dijkgraaf, MBO also took part in the Education Premium for the first time this year, a prize for education teams that work on innovation and improvement of education. In the letter that Dijkgraaf is sending to the Lower House today, he goes one step further: MBO deserves a revaluation not only in education, but in society as a whole.
Joint introduction weeks
Among other things, the minister advocates a joint introduction week for MBO, HBO and WO students. MBO students can already participate in the introduction week in Utrecht, Leiden, Maastricht, Leeuwarden, Groningen and Zeeland, among others.
Dijkgraaf calls on other cities to follow this good example: “The introduction week is a valuable way for students from different study programs to meet each other. Through joint activities and getting acquainted with different disciplines, students are given the opportunity to look beyond their own level of education. I don’t think it’s appropriate to exclude MBO students from this.”
Statutory participation of MBO students
In addition to the equal treatment of and the same opportunities for MBO students, Dijkgraaf wants to better support and strengthen the participation of MBO students, in line with colleges and universities. The minister already has regular consultations with the Youth Organization for Vocational Education (JOBmbo) to find out what students need and what bottlenecks they experience. Because this is an important part of the education field, the minister will submit a proposal to the House after the summer to lay down this consultation in law, just as it does at higher vocational education and university level. Minister Dijkgraaf is also investigating whether students can automatically receive a refund of the tuition fees paid if they unexpectedly drop out of their studies earlier, just like with HBO and WO students.