VMBO students do not feel challenged

On 18 April 2011 the VMBO panel of the Landelijk Aktie Komitee Scholieren (LAKS), the Dutch national students’ action committee, presented its study “Vraag het de vmbo’er” (Ask the VMBO student) to the education minister, Marja van Bijsterveldt.

In the study, VMBO students say they do not find their own education challenging enough. “Excellent VMBO students are often forgotten. They are bored at school as things stand, or they want to move to HAVO. VMBO education needs to be far more challenging,” says LAKS chair Steven de Jong. The study also shows that students are very dissatisfied with the process of choosing what to study next.

In the qualitative study, which LAKS carried out among almost 800 students, VMBO students were asked their own views on matters such as safety, lesson content and challenge. Fully 70% of students said they found VMBO easy, and the VMBO diploma is not highly valued either.

LAKS argues for more practically oriented challenge in VMBO. Ultimately the aim should be to raise examination requirements in VMBO as well, so that the diploma genuinely becomes worth more, though a boost in quality is needed first. The number of unqualified teachers should also be cut back sharply. At present one in three VMBO teachers teaches without a qualification; that is far more than in HAVO and VWO.

In the third and fourth year, VMBO students grow steadily more dissatisfied with the process of choosing a course of study. “The poor state of careers guidance shows up in the high drop-out figures in MBO. There is still a lot to be gained in the choice process,” says De Jong. Careers advisers need to be closer to the student, and instead of aptitude tests there should be real conversation with the student. VMBO students in particular need good guidance.

© Nationale Onderwijsgids