UpdateDue to the corona crisis, final exam candidates will once again be given an extra resit this school year and the chance to spread their exams, so that they have more preparation time. This has been decided by Minister Slob (Primary and Secondary Education).
Edwin van der Aa, Hanneke Keultjes
Latest update:
17-12-21, 15:16
There will be a third time period for resits. And in VMBO, not three or four, but two components of the vocational profile subject are taken with a central written and practical exam. The other components are concluded with a school exam. Pupils who take the state examination may bring a self-chosen confidential counselor to their oral.
Slob: ,,Students have to deal with extra challenges this year. It is therefore justified to really accommodate them, but we also want to ensure that they can continue with a good diploma. An extra 51 million has been made available for this by the Council of Ministers for the organization.”
We express the great disappointment that the thumb arrangement is not what was chosen
Contrary to last year, the so-called ‘thumb rule’, which allows students to choose not to include a fail mark for a non-core subject in their overall assessment, will be deleted. The Landelijk Aktie Komitee Scholieren (LAKS) is not happy about this.
LAKS chairman Iben Maas: ,,We express our great disappointment that the thumb rule is not what was chosen. For the majority of the students, the thumb rule is the measure that has the most pressure-reducing effect and therefore also the measure that has the most positive effect for graduating students.”
Lots of wishes
Slob thinks it is a difference that the schools have now been open compared to a year earlier, also with financial support. ,,There are a lot of wishes, then it is a weighing when it is enough for us. The current agreements are in line with the state of affairs, they are really necessary because the education has not been optimal.”
The student association takes a negative view of the often-heard argument that the thumb rule encourages ‘calculating’ behavior on the part of students. “Pupils often skip a non-core subject in order to focus on the core subjects, such as mathematics and Dutch. I don’t understand why that’s a bad thing,” Maas said.
The minister also wants to overhaul the state exams for students who take exams outside a regular secondary school. The number of participants, for example in secondary special education, is growing so fast that it takes a lot of effort to properly arrange the state exam for everyone separately. For example, many examiners are needed in the summer for the individual oral examination. In the coming years, according to the minister, it will be examined whether the new-style state examination can be spread over the year or whether it can be taken more often in written form.
Educational organizations dissatisfied
The General Education Union, CNV Education, FvOv, Platform VVVO and LAKS are very dissatisfied because, according to them, little or no account has been taken of educational staff in the current proposals.
“The correction pressure in the first period has increased because the result date has been brought forward a week. It is also expected that due to the disappearance of the thumb rule, many more resits will be taken”, the organizations say.
In addition, they would like to point out that the further course of the school year is very unpredictable. “The recent Omikron variant leads to uncertainty and new variants and waves of contamination cannot be ruled out. We would therefore like to comment on the proposed measures: it cannot be ruled out that an adjustment to the scheme will still be necessary at a later date. We do not rule out any possibilities in advance.”
According to Minister Slob, the examination regulations can be further adjusted by the beginning of February at the latest, possibly at the request of the House of Representatives or when the crisis gives rise to this.
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