2024
New agreements on good education on St Eustatius
In order to better tailor their lessons to the needs of individual students and, for example, to be able to deal well with differences and multilingualism in the classroom, teachers on St. Eustatius will receive support from special coaches. In addition, students who need a helping hand to do well at school will also receive extra help in the coming years. These are some of the agreements that the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education has made with school boards, the Public Entity and Expertise Centre Education (ECE) of St. Eustatius in the Third Education Agenda. These agreements should contribute to the further improvement of primary and secondary education on the island. The agenda was signed during the Minister's visit to the Caribbean Netherlands during a recent visit in January 2024.
2023
No mobile phones in the classroom
News item | 04-07-2023
Mobile phones and, for example, tablets or smartwatches will no longer be allowed in the classroom from January 1 next year. These devices cause children to be distracted which has a bad influence on their performance in school.
The Minister of Education, Culture and Science has agreed to this measure with the Secondary Education Council, SPV, PO Council, AOb, CNV Education, FvOV, Parents and Education and the LAKS. Phone may only be used when they are necessary for the content of a course. It is up to the schools themselves to agree on rules with teachers, parents and students. Schools can also choose to ban mobile phones altogether. Students who need their phone for medical reasons or a disability are allowed to use it. Adjusted agreements will be made for special education.
The organizations involved will further develop the agreement in the coming period.
Pass rates for final exams are back to normal after Corona
News item | 08-09-2023
In the past school year, 90% of all secondary education students obtained their diploma. This percentage is almost as high as before the pandemic (92%).
Last May, students took their exams for the first time without special measures. Special measures have been in force over the past three years, such as extra resits.
National Education Program
With money from the National Education Program, schools have been tackling the delays that students have suffered due to the corona pandemic since 2021. Schools can choose from a range of effective methods. This way they can tailor their approach to what is most suitable for their pupils. Primary and secondary schools can use the national education program money until the 2024/2025 school year.
Free meals for children in primary and secondary education
News item | 19-09-2023
The free meal program started last March. In this program free breakfast or lunch is offered at primary and secondary schools. It has now been decided that this program will continue for the participating schools in 2024. The Ministry of Education, Culture and Science is investing €102.5 million, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment €52.5 million, and the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport €10 million. € 1 million from the general resources will go to the Caribbean Netherlands for this purpose.
Schools have the freedom to organize this in a way that is most suitable for their students. Schools can choose to offer a meal at school or a meal at home. Opportunities include working with volunteers who prepare the food. They will then receive a volunteer allowance for this or can choose to use caterers. Another option is providing grocery cards. Families can use these cards to buy food themselves at the supermarket.
This initiative focuses on schools where at least 30% or more of the students come from low income families. More than 1,600 schools participate in this program, thanks to the efforts of the Youth Education Fund and the Red Cross. These parties will also be responsible for implementation next year. This initiatieve will also be continued in the Caribbean Netherlands in 2024.
Introduction of a Strategic Personnel Policy to increase the share of permanent contracts in primary, secondary education and lower VET
News item | 10-05-2023
To increase the attractiveness of employment in the education sector, the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science aims to introduce a new law that increases the likelihood of teachers and instructors receiving permanent employment contracts.
With the enforcement of the new Strategic Personnel Policy (Strategisch personeelbeleid) in 2024, employees in primary schools and secondary education can receive a permanent contact after one year of good performance in the role. Through the introduction of this new law, the Netherlands aims to tackle teacher shortages by attracting new teachers to the sector and encouraging teachers to stay in their positions
The Strategic Personnel Policy additionally encourages school boards to provide better guidance to (starting) teachers and to dedicate more resources to providing career and reducing workloads. School boards furthermore will be required to ensure that at least 80% of their staff are permanent employees. A school will additionally only be allowed to dedicate 5% of its budget to freelancers and temporary employees.
Pupils will get more equal opportunities in the transition from primary to secondary education.
01-01-2023
The final test in the last year of primary school, will be changed to a transfer test, to emphasize that schools check how students are doing on several occasions. To combat inequality, the transfer test will be taken earlier in the year as of school year 2023-2024. All pupils will then register for secondary school at the same time (in the week before 1 April). As a result, all pupils will have an equal chance of being placed at their preferred school at the level that best suits them.
2022
National Education Agreement: €1.5 billion for good-quality education
News item | 22-04-2022 | 16:00
Every school-leaver should be able to read, write, do arithmetic and be familiar with their civic rights and responsibilities. This requires schools to have sufficient, qualified and competent teachers, school leaders and support staff. However, education is struggling to cope with serious staff shortages. To tackle this problem, the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, teachers’ unions and the Primary and Secondary Education Councils are jointly implementing a multi-year National Education Agreement. The government is investing €1.5 billion in teachers, school leaders and other staff to safeguard the quality of education.
The agreement was signed today by primary and secondary education minister Dennis Wiersma, representatives of teachers’ unions (AOB, CNV Onderwijs, FNV O&O, FVOV), the General Association of School Leaders (AVS) and the Primary and Secondary Education Councils. The National Education Agreement means better salaries for primary teachers and a lighter workload for secondary teachers. It is also the starting point for a broader work agenda to address staff shortages and improve the quality of education.
Primary and secondary education minister Dennis Wiersma commented, ‘We want every pupil to have excellent teachers who encourage them to read books, explain arithmetic clearly and teach children to always treat others with respect. For this we need to have enough qualified teachers. We’re spending €1.5 billion in order to give teachers, school leaders and other teaching staff higher salaries, a lighter workload and more time for personal and professional development. We know that making education better for teachers and pupils is going to be a long and demanding process. So there is no time to lose.’
Higher salary
From now on, teachers and other staff in primary education will earn the same salaries as their secondary-school counterparts in equivalent jobs. The government has earmarked €919 million for this purpose. In the coming years, primary teachers’ salaries will increase by an average of 10%, which is equal to around €5,300 per year for a fulltime teacher. Of course, there will be major individual differences, but this year’s salary scales will increase incomes by at least 4% for all teachers. This should make teaching more attractive both for those entering the profession and for experienced teachers. School leaders also deserve greater appreciation, since they play a crucial part in getting their teams to provide good-quality education. This year the salary for primary school leaders will go up by at least 5%, with a total increase of 11% on average over several years.
Lightening the workload
In primary and secondary schools alike, the pressure of work is high and teachers face major challenges. This school year the government is earmarking another €300 million to tackle the heavy pressure of work in secondary education, as it already did for primary education. The trade unions and Secondary Education Council are making agreements about the allocation of the money, to ensure that it is spent where it is really needed. Funds could, for instance, be used to hire extra support staff (as already happens in primary schools).
Extra time
Teachers need to have time for continuing professional development, to regularly update their skills. Starting this school year, the government is providing a structural budget of €118 million for teachers’ professional development. Additional funding is also available for school leaders to engage in professional development. The national curriculum – which prescribes the knowledge and skills pupils are required to learn – will also benefit from a clearer mandate. As soon as possible, it will be adapted to focus more strongly on basic skills in language, arithmetic and citizenship education.
Extra supplement
All children need good teachers and school leaders, but individual requirements vary. Some children are vulnerable because, for instance, they have problems at home or need extra help with language. It is essential for the school to have enough teachers, school leaders and support staff to give every child a fair chance to build a foundation for a secure future. To attract teachers to schools with a large number of vulnerable pupils, they receive a market-related allowance over and above their salary. The government provided a budget for this scheme for two years but is now proposing to continue it after 2023. This will be laid down in a collective labour agreement with teachers’ unions and education councils.
Extra pupil support extended for two years
News item | 25-02-2022 | 15:45
Every child must learn to read, write and do arithmetic to an acceptable standard. To strengthen these basic skills in all children, the National Education Programme is being extended for another two years. The government has also decided to shift a portion of the funding to schools that need it most.
‘I want every child to achieve their full potential, despite the coronavirus pandemic,’ primary and secondary education minister Dennis Wiersma said. ‘It starts with a solid foundation in reading, writing and arithmetic, but also with monitoring pupil welfare. Schools are working very hard at this, but they have recently been held back by the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. So we’re giving them extra time to further strengthen the basics of good education with measures that have proved effective in the past.’
More time
If necessary, programme funding can also be used in the 2023/2024 and 2024/2025 school years. This will give schools greater scope to spend it on appropriate measures. The amount of time and space needed for this will vary from one school to another. Schools will be informed well before the start of the school year exactly how much they will be getting so that they can make targeted plans.
Different allocation of funding
It has become evident that secondary schools now need more funding per pupil to strengthen basic skills in literacy and numeracy. During the pandemic, secondary schools were closed for longer than primary schools so they have more to catch up. For the coming school year, the standard amount per pupil is therefore being increased to approximately €820 in secondary education, compared to €500 in primary education. Schools were already receiving extra funding for pupils in special education, practical training and the upper classes of prevocational secondary education (VMBO) and will continue to do so. Funding will no longer specifically target schools in deprived areas. Instead, a broader approach will be taken to determine where extra funding for teaching basic skills is needed. Studies show that pupils from middle-class families also need better support.
Structural attention
The government regards broadening the programme as a logical step towards structurally improving the education system, as set out in the coalition agreement. This will continue to build on the National Education Programme, which was launched in February 2021 and provides a total of €5.8 billion for projects in primary and secondary education. Schools choose from a specially developed ‘menu’ of interventions that have proven effective. Extensive monitoring and accountability have been built into the programme. In April, a second progress report will be sent to the House of Representatives, with new data about how schools are implementing the programme and about pupils’ welfare.