This year's State of the Parent is about appropriate education. In this context, good education for everyone is an ideal. This also applies to students who need additional support. With the Appropriate Education Act introduced in 2014, it seemed feasible to find an appropriate place in education for every student. All children were supposed to feel at home at a school that suited their qualities and abilities, so that every child could make the most of themselves. But have these expectations been fulfilled?
Parents demand improvements to appropriate education
In this State of the Parent, Ouders & Onderwijs examines appropriate education in practice from the perspective of parents. The survey shows that 60 percent of parents are dissatisfied with the appropriate education provided. Parents regularly encounter negative experiences and are insufficiently involved in the process. Education is too often not appropriate. And there is also declining educational quality to be concerned about. That negative spiral is reinforced by overcrowded classrooms, performance pressure, the teacher shortage and workload. Not only the children, but certainly also the parents, are too often the victims of this.
Supervision and enforcement of the agreements and rules that schools, school boards and partnerships must comply with are unclear. Parents know exactly what is best for their child, but in this system they are pushed into the background and have too little say and influence. This can be changed. That is why Ouders & Onderwijs is committed to better policies for parents and children. How do we envision this? You can read about it in this State of the Parent.
View the State of the Parent 2020 online here. Download the PDF of the State of the Parent 2020 here.