News article | 21-10-2022 | 4:30 p.m.
There is great enthusiasm among schools to ensure that every student learns to read, write and calculate well. A group of leading schools will start work this school year, for which 222 million euros are available. A total of 645 schools are now receiving additional funding to improve basic skills. From next week, aid teams will also work with 144 primary, secondary and schools for special (secondary) education. These core teams help with what the school needs to build basic skills in language, math, citizenship and digital literacy.
Dennis Wiersma (primary and secondary education): ,,Every student should leave school with a solid foundation. That’s why we’re going to provide better support to schools for this: bespoke support teams will get to work with what the school needs. For example, organizing extra help to relieve teachers or helping to introduce new teaching methods. It’s different from what we’ve done in the past, so we’ll definitely see things that will further improve the approach. But I am happy that we can provide this help as soon as possible. This way, teams of teachers can focus more on their students and the basic skills, so that students progress.
Approach
In May, the Basic Skills Master Plan was launched to take students’ basic skills to the next level. To get off to a flying start, an additional 222 million euros are available for a total of 645 schools for this school year. They set to work with an approach backed by knowledge of what works from science and practice. The needs differ from one school to another, but it can be to encourage reading or to continue the training of teachers. Schools are supported in this regard, including an overview of effective ways to improve basic skills.
core teams
In addition, 144 schools will receive additional support from grassroots teams. Schools indicate that they want different types of help, ranging from the supervision of volunteers and the organization of school activities to relieve teachers, to the option of new teaching methods. Starting next week, the core teams will hold an admissions interview with each school to find out what kind of help is needed for each school. They then help the school with a plan and the help needed, so that a core team is created for each school.
To this end, the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science seeks to cooperate with all kinds of organizations that can provide relevant expertise and assistance, such as Kennisnet, Taalunie and ProDemos. The teams do not provide teachers themselves, but they provide support and a helping hand with the organizational and pedagogical challenges facing the school. The school is under control. Most schools are expected to be up and running by early next year, with schools with the biggest challenges being prioritized to build a core team.
Lots of enthusiasm
This aid has generated enormous interest. There were a total of 5,247 requests for additional money, of which 762 schools also requested support from aid teams. There is still room for a limited number of schools this year, so a selection has been made. 91 schools were directly drawn for a grant and aid teams. In addition, 53 schools selected by lot are also approached by the aid teams, which have been assessed by the inspectorate as “very weak” or “insufficient”. These schools already receive support through existing improvement processes, support teams can help with implementation. In total, the core teams will therefore work with 144 schools this school year. The approach with aid teams will be extended gradually, so that more schools can be reached next year. This additional public aid should eventually be accessible to all schools.