Nederlands Uitval

One of the things related to education that I have become very interested in is when and why students chose to drop out of school. In Lansing, I teach GED classes and work with students every day who have dropped out of school before graduating. For over a year I have spent time getting to know these students and trying to understand why traditional education did not work for them. Every single student has given me things to be aware of in my future classroom. The attention and dedication that they received (or more importantly, did not receive) from teachers directly influenced their choice to not complete high school.

One of the things I have noticed so far about school in the Netherlands is that it seems a lot more rigid. Students are essentially put into tracks and set into a career path from the time that the are 12 years old. I’m still undecided on whether or not this system is necessarily better or worse, but to me, this seems like it would be a very difficult system for students that find their motivation later than 12, don’t have the support at home to push themselves, or find themselves dealing with personal issues out of their control. I have worked with alternative learners in several different settings over the last few years and the common thing that I find among them is that it took a while for them to see the importance of education. The thing I want to find more out about is the drop-out rate in the Netherland schools. Also, what types of programs and options are available to students that do drop-out, but want to finish their education?

According to Nederlands Jeugd Instituut (The Netherlands Youth Institute) research on youth drop-out and unemployment. In 2009, the national drop-out rate for students aged 15-25 was 9%. This number is down from 15% in 2001. In comparison, the rates in the United States in 2008 and 2001 were 8% and 10.4%, respectively. The Netherlands government is concerned that this rate is so high and sees the importance of skilled and trained workers entering the job force. They set out a series of goals to help decrease the drop-out rate even more. These goals include:
            - Extra attention for a smooth transition from preparatory to intermediate vocational education
            - Better career orientation, academic study selection and guidance
            - More and better care in schools
attractive education, with sports and culture
             - More attention for preparatory vocational education students who learn best by doing
             - More tailored solutions to prevent school drop-out

Although these goals sound great, they leave some very important questions regarding actual implementation and practicality. The goals are more like guidelines than they are an actual plan to combat drop-outs and unemployment.

I spoke with Renee, our host in the Netherlands, about this matter as well. He said that there are programs available to students who chose to continue with their education after dropping out. Similar to programs in the United States, it is not the exact same as a high school diploma but is supposed to offer an equivalent level of education. He also mentioned that there are programs for parents who are less educated who chose to take additional classes in order to help their students with coursework.

I would like to explore these types of programs more in the coming weeks. I am fascinated by alternative education and non-traditional students. Everyone learns in many different ways, and I think it should be the goal of schools to find as many possibilities for students as they can. I would also like to know more about the priorities of the education policy makers - for instance, is drop-out prevention something they work hard to combat or are other things more important? I think learning more about the contrast between alternative programs in the US and the Netherlands would be an interesting avenue to investigate as well.