News item | 22-08-2022 | 07:20
Get help with doing your homework, develop further through sport or orientate yourself for a future job through extra technique lessons. Not every child comes into contact with this from home, while this is important for optimal learning and progress. That is why Minister Wiersma (Primary and Secondary Education) is launching the School & Environment program today, during the first official opening of the school year. This means that tens of thousands of students are offered extra activities and support in addition to their regular lessons at and around school.
Minister Wiersma: “Everyone should learn to read, write, calculate and learn how we interact with each other in the Netherlands at school. But your development is about much more than that: a large part of it takes place outside the school, in your environment around it. For example, you discover that you can program well if you tinker with computer programs with friends at home. By exercising in a team, you learn to work better together. We need to ensure that every child has the best opportunities, regardless of where you live, your parents’ income or the circumstances in which you grow up. That is why in the coming years we will work on enriching the school and environment for students in primary and secondary education, so that ultimately all students have fair opportunities.
Forerunners and starters
Within the program schools, municipalities, childcare organizations, sports clubs and other local parties work together to increase the opportunities for children. After all, what you learn outside of school is also important for how you perform at school and, for example, for the job you will get later. The School & Environment program will be rolled out next school year in the 130 areas where it is most needed. With 45 regions of these that already have such an approach, we are looking at what works best and in this way a method is developed that can help many more students in the long term. Today, Wiersma visited some of these forerunners in Rotterdam and Dordrecht and opened the new school year with them, including a speech.
Local coalitions and local choices
How you can increase the chances of children can differ per region. Depending on the background of the children, they have different needs. That is why local coalitions of schools, municipalities and other organizations choose for themselves what extra activities they offer. The cabinet will allocate a total of 1 billion euros for equality of opportunity in the coming years. This year, 34 million euros is available specifically for School & Environment.
Safe environment
The activities take place at or around the school because this is a safe place for students where they are already. That makes it very easy for them to participate. But the school doesn’t have to do it alone. The local coalitions implement the program together with the school. This also means that the program does not simply mean more work for teachers and other teaching staff.
Broad approach
With the School & Environment programme, Minister Wiersma is giving substance to the agreements in the coalition agreement. The program fits in with a package of measures he took earlier this year to offer students fair opportunities. With his master plan, for example, he wants to ensure that they learn to read, write and count better and that they can participate in society. The Education Agreement closes the pay gap between primary and secondary education and invests in sufficient and well-trained teachers. Within the National Education Programme, for example, extra attention is paid to pupils with many learning delays. This program was extended by two years in February. Before the summer, Wiersma came up with an extra approach to reduce the number of people sitting at home.
Opening school year
Today Minister Wiersma opens the school year at OBS de Catamaran in Rotterdam. In the afternoon he is at the Stedelijk Dalton Lyceum in Dordrecht. On Monday 29 August he opens the school year in Leeuwarden and Franeker and on Monday 5 September in Tilburg and Breda. These visits are also devoted to equality of opportunity and the School & Environment programme.