When there is not enough money at home for things such as food or a roof over one’s head, it is only logical that children often arrive at school restless, sad or defiant due to financial stress. This causes disruption in the classroom, meaning lessons cannot start immediately. As a result, up to 30 minutes of teaching time can be lost each day. According to calculations by SEO Economic Research – commissioned by the Youth Education Fund and the ABN AMRO Foundation – this amounts to one month of missed effective teaching time per year.
Less teaching time leads to poorer school performance, which in turn has negative effects on these pupils’ later income. This affects the Netherlands’ ultimate earning capacity. Higher tax revenues and more people in work contribute to a stronger society and a healthier population.
Society enters the school
Hans Spekman, director of the Youth Education Fund: “Anyone who says that schools should focus on reading and arithmetic does not realise that society walks into the school. Teachers want to make the most of their pupils’ talents. That is precisely why we cannot ignore the teaching time lost as a result of unrest at home.” More and more schools are turning to the Youth Education Fund when a problem arises at home due to a lack of money. For example, for glasses because a child cannot see the board properly. Or for a bed because a child sleeps on a thin mattress on the floor.
Schools play a crucial role in tackling poverty: teachers see the children here every day and thereby create a trusted place, year after year. In this way, they also build a relationship with parents. Schools must be supported in further strengthening the connection with pupils and parents, for example through bridge coordinators. They connect school and home and help reduce stress at home. This relieves the teacher, restores calm in the classroom and enables children to focus on learning again.
Tackling poverty starts at school
To prevent even more teaching time from being lost and pupils’ academic performance from falling behind, the Youth Education Fund believes that policymakers must invest in three interventions:
1 Broad support from the school for children and parents
To become more involved in the home situation, schools often employ a bridge coordinator. This ensures that pupils and families receive the right support more quickly. As a result, calm returns to the classroom, the teacher can focus on teaching and the children can get back to learning. However, not all schools work with a bridge coordinator yet, or the bridge coordinator is not a permanent part of the team. To do their work properly, bridge coordinators need sufficient hours and must be a permanent part of the team.
2 The best teacher for the classroom
There is a teacher shortage, particularly at schools where the majority of children grow up in poverty. Teachers at these schools face additional challenges. They therefore need different skills and deserve a higher salary, separate from a temporary labour-market allowance. Teachers must also be given the space and trust to do their work properly.
3 Invest unequally to broaden every child’s horizons
At some schools, little money comes in through voluntary parental contributions because parents cannot afford to pay them. School excursions are paid for from these parental contributions. At schools where fewer parental contributions are received, children therefore cannot broaden their horizons. This creates a huge contrast with schools that do have ample financial resources through parental contributions. These children are already less likely to leave their neighbourhood, with both the school and their family. Therefore, ensure that schools receiving fewer parental contributions are given sufficient funding so that these children can broaden their world too.