Through the School & Community programme, tens of thousands of pupils are offered additional activities and support in and around school, alongside their regular lessons.
Minister Wiersma: “Everyone should learn to read, write and do arithmetic well at school, and learn how we interact with one another in the Netherlands. But your development is about much more than that: a large part of it takes place outside school, in the environment around you. For example, you may discover that you are good at programming when you tinker with computer programs at home with friends. By playing sport in a team, you learn to work together better. We must ensure that every child can make the most of their opportunities, regardless of where they live, their parents’ income or the circumstances in which they grow up. That is why, in the coming years, we will work on enriching schools and their surroundings for pupils in primary and secondary education, so that ultimately all pupils have equal opportunities.”
Pioneers and starters
As part of the programme, schools, municipalities, childcare organisations, sports clubs and other local parties work together to improve opportunities for children. What you learn outside school is also important for how you perform at school and, for example, for the job you get later in life. The School & Community programme will be rolled out during the coming school year in the 130 areas where it is most urgently needed. In 45 of these regions, such an approach is already in place. They will examine what works best and develop a method that can eventually help many more pupils. Today, Wiersma visited several of these pioneers in Rotterdam and Dordrecht and opened the new school year with them, including with a speech.
Local coalitions and local choices
How children’s opportunities can be improved may differ from one region to another. Depending on the children’s backgrounds, they have different needs. That is why local coalitions of schools, municipalities and other organisations decide for themselves which additional activities they offer. The government will allocate a total of €1 billion to equal opportunities over the coming years. This year, €34 million is specifically available for the School & Community programme.
Safe environment
The activities take place at or around the school because this is a safe place for pupils where they are already present. This makes it very easy for them to participate. But the school of course does not have to do this alone. The local coalitions implement the programme together with the school. This also means that the programme does not simply create more work for teachers and other education staff.
Broad-based approach
Through the School & Community programme, Minister Wiersma is implementing agreements in the coalition agreement. The programme forms part of a package of measures he introduced earlier this year to offer pupils equal opportunities. For example, through his master plan for basic skills, he aims to ensure that they learn to read, write and do arithmetic better and can participate in society. The Education Agreement will close the pay gap between primary and secondary education and invest in sufficient numbers of well-trained teachers. Within the National Education Programme, for example, additional attention is being paid to pupils with significant learning delays. This programme was extended by two years in February. Before the summer, Wiersma introduced an additional approach to reduce the number of pupils absent from school.
A positive step, according to NJi
According to Fatima-Zohra Charki of the Netherlands Youth Institute, the programme is a positive step towards promoting equal opportunities, an objective included in the coalition agreement. “Education plays an important role in promoting equal opportunities, but the environment around the school is also an important factor. It is therefore good to see activities and support becoming available around the school for pupils for whom these things are not a given. It is also positive that different parties are working together in this programme, because we know that this increases the eventual impact.”