The Dutch secondary education system streamlines children into three levels from day one based on their academic ability. When my eldest started secondary school, I was a fan of this system. As he approaches the end of his school ‘career’, I have seen enough to have some serious doubts. There are many reasons to be concerned about the state of the Dutch secondary education system.
The Dutch Secondary Education System
For those of you new to the the Dutch secondary education system, it is not the simplest system. There are abbreviations for everything and different levels of schooling, depending on the final advice from a child’s primary school.
Tip: Read Help! We’re About to Navigate the Dutch Secondary Education System for an explanation of the three levels and more information and links to information about the Dutch secondary education system.
This is in stark contrast to the English secondary education I went through many decades ago. It was a question of choosing the school you wanted to go to, and there was one level of schooling – i.e. working towards G.C.S.E exams taken at the age of 16. Some children took fewer G.C.S.E exams than others and I remember maths classes being split into three groups depending on ability levels. But that was the extent of streaming as far as I can remember.
Why I Was Once a Fan of Early Streaming
It seemed like a good idea to me to put children of the same kind of academic level together. Some children like learning the theory and from books (on laptops), some don’t. Some learn better by doing. This perceived plus point was reinforced to me by talking to other parents. Some children have a clear idea of the kind of profession they want to do later and want to travel that path early on. Some children know they would like to go into higher education. So different streams for different needs.
And as I wrote in a blog post many years ago, the Dutch secondary education system is flexible.
Flexibility Within the System
Before you panic and think the system is forcing your child down a path at an early age, (my initial thoughts when I realised how different the system is compared to the British education system I went through) the Dutch system also offers flexibility.
Should it be clear that a child is not following the right level, they can move between MAVO, HAVO and VWO – up or down. VMBO students can move to HAVO at a later stage.
Help! We’re About to Navigate the Dutch Secondary Education System
Flexible Education System at What Cost?
The fact is that a twelve year old child is different from the sixteen year old version of themselves. Some children develop academically more quickly than others. Some lose their way. And then we come back to that flexibility…. Yes, a child struggling with VWO can move to HAVO, a child excelling at MAVO can move up to HAVO. Great.
But if we dissect this, it’s soon clear that this can be dramatic for a teenager. Even after four years of doing VWO a child can find themselves struggling and have to transfer to HAVO. Four years of building up a social network, a group of solid friends. And then BAM – they have to start all over again. And anyone with a teenager will know how hard this can hit. Within the Dutch education system, this streaming means that academic success trumps the social-emotional development of a child. It can make a teenager feel like a failure. It’s a mental health disaster.
The Negative Side of Streaming Children Early
The other question this early streaming raises is this: does it limit a child’s options? Are they pushed into a box so early that they can no longer get out?
The Netherlands is backwards in this, alas. There is early streaming based on assumed ability, which will make children and their parents think the child is either smart or can only work with his hands. Which will affect the future of that child.
A 2024 European Commission report also highlights some issues and criticisms of early streaming within the Dutch education system:
Early tracking may increase inequalities. Dutch children are streamed into different secondary education tracks by performance-based selection at age 12. This can lead to inequalities as pupils with the same cognitive capacities, but different backgrounds, may end up at different educational levels (Education Council, 2021). In 2021, the Education Council published an opinion on later selection in response to a request from the government. It recommended abolishing the end-of-primary test and postponing the time of selection until after the first 3 years of secondary school to make education more accessible.
Tests, Tests and More Tests
In order to determine whether a child is at the right level of education, a school needs to continually assess that child. At the end of every chapter taught, there is a test to see if the pupil has grasped the topic. That’s fine right? Until you hear that the results of each and every test is put into the system (Magister), every test is weighted, and each result goes towards an average that will determine at the end of the school year whether or not a pupil:
- moves to the next year of the study
- redoes the school year
- moves to a different level entirely
There is a constant pressure on a child to keep performing well in tests throughout the entire school year. And when I say throughout the year, I mean random and constant. As illustration, last school year (at HAVO and VWO levels): my (then) 12 year old had 12 tests and two marked assignments between the end of August and the start of November, my (then) 13 year old had 8 (but has a reduced subject list due to long covid) and my eldest had 10 tests, two marked assignments and in the toetsweek (exam week) starting the following week the class had another nine tests, making it 19 tests in three months. It’s enough to make your head spin.
And to make matters worse, if it would seem from test results that the subject matter hasn’t been understand well by much of the class the subject matter is not revisited. The class moves on to the next chapter, highlighting that it’s about the results and not about what has sunk into a child’s brain!
Final Year – Exam Year
In the fifth and final year of HAVO, every test my child sits in the course of a year counts towards his end exam result. Every single test. It’s the end of January and my son has 21 different results in so far, all counting towards his final marks. And there are plenty more tests to come – with state exams starting in May (counting for 50% of the final exam marks). The pressure is constant.
Results, Results and More Results
Test results are generally posted on Magister. They can appear at any time – evenings, weekends. There’s no switching off as pupils await their results. There’s nothing like a red 3 appearing in the system to ruin a teenager’s weekend.
And parents have access to these results too. There is an ongoing trial to stop parents seeing test results (link in Dutch), stating that parental pressure is not helping. The idea is that pupils inform parents about their results when they see fit.
My only comment on this would be that perhaps the pressure on pupils stems predominantly from the fact that there is constant testing and results can appear at any moment…. perhaps there is werk aan de winkel here too.
The School Timetable
Those of you who follow me on BlueSky will know I sometimes throw out a post about the number of cancelled lessons on my children’s timetables. There are weeks when it is shocking. Unlike my days of going to school from 9am to 3.30pm regardless of whether a teacher was ill, attending a funeral or had died overnight (only three reasons teachers were permitted to be absent), the Dutch system often drops lessons, particularly in the upper school, with a moment’s notice. Kids will be on their way to school before they realise there is actually no lesson to go to on arrival.
The national teacher shortage (link is to a Dutch article) does nothing to help this. As in other countries, teaching has become an unattractive profession. Long Covid has also played a role in the teacher shortage.
Timetables do not have a structured start or end time and are often littered with tussenuurtjes (free/study periods).
A Nation of Happy Children?
At the same time as a high level of lesson cancellation, it’s not unusual for one of my children to have lessons until 4.45pm and get home at 5.30pm. Eating, hobbies, jobs, homework and study are squeezed into what is left of the evening. It’s a more rigorous schedule than many face in the workplace, where part-time working is popular. Maybe their long school days have taught Dutch people to take control of their calendars once they reach adulthood and are able to…… just a thought.
Within very little time of having a child in the Dutch secondary education system, I started to wonder how it is that Dutch children always come out so high in happiness surveys.
And I am not the only one to question this.
The consistently high scores for Dutch students also sit uncomfortably against a recent mania for testing and evaluation in this small country, which has breached all boundaries of common sense and kindness. As grades have plummeted in literacy and maths, standardised testing, provided by commercial firms, has proliferated. Many primary schools give children multiple formal tests each year. At secondary level, some schools spend three entire weeks a year* on testing. Public health organisations report that teenage stress levels are rising.
*Incidentally, in my sons’ school, three entire weeks of testing per year would be an improvement on their current situation. Each toetsweek is 1 ½ weeks long and there are tests in between the three annual toetsweken.
Performance Trends in Key Subjects
A European Commission report in 2024 also reveals a worrying downwards trend (in the EU as a whole, by the way) when it comes to performance in reading, mathematics and science. For example, the Netherlands is seeing a steeper decline in reading performance than the EU average. The notable increase in vacancies for Dutch teachers will certainly not be helping this alarming decline.
Science and maths see declining levels too, but performance remains above the EU average in these areas.
Underachievement is increasing, particularly among disadvantaged children. (As the parent of a child with severe issues because of Long Covid, I am more aware than most of the issues when your child falls outsides the boundaries of regular education, but that is probably a post for another day).
So early streaming and constant testing isn’t having the desired impact on the performance in key subjects either.
The Future?
It must be said that the general standard of the Dutch education system remains good, particularly higher education. Internationally, Dutch education features high on the list but the quality is stagnating, despite many ‘reforms’. And as you have read, the secondary education system has its fair share of growing problems.
Private Schools
There are also concerns about the growing number of private schools opening up in the Netherlands. There are fears that the doubling of private schools in the past two years will lead to a two-tier society. Are parents turning to private schools because the education system in general is failing children? It is food for thought.
Government Plans
In my opinion, the Dutch secondary education system looks promising in theory but in practice is in need of an overhaul. All trends indicate a looming crisis within the Dutch secondary school system, ranging from the issue of a teacher shortage as well as teacher quality (a consequence of the lack of teachers), a widening gap beween advantaged and disadvantaged children, teenage mental health concerns and performance in key school subjects.
So what is the current government doing to address these issues?
A huge cut to the money for the education system (from primary to higher) is planned. And I mean HUGE. Schoof Cabinet’s government programme: largest education cut this century remains in place
…..on Budget Day it becomes clear how the pain of the cutbacks will be shared in the coming years – at least, in part. The bill will not only be paid by higher education, but also by primary education and secondary vocational education. These sectors will structurally lose more than 700 million euros. Among other things, initiatives for more equal opportunities will be affected, but also teachers in the Randstad region where the teacher shortage is the greatest. For some cutbacks, large amounts are already being booked without the government knowing how they will be implemented.
A little light at the end of the tunnel? There are encouraging trends when it comes to teacher training numbers, with slight increases in the numbers being attracted to train to become the teachers of the future.
But all in all, the picture is not a rosy one.
Over to You
I would LOVE to hear about your experiences of the Dutch education system (and those in other countries for that matter) from primary to higher education. Is it a positive experience? What do you think about early streaming? Do you fear for the future of the education system in the Netherlands? Let me know in the comments below or on social media (Facebook or BlueSky).
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
