19 December 2007

AMSTERDAM – Every school student should be assigned a coach to ensure that the student discovers his or her talents. This can help children make a better decision for further study or profession.

That is one of the recommendations presented by the National Think-Tank in Amsterdam on Wednesday. The organisation is comprised of more than 20 selected university students and doctoral candidates who researched the major problems in education over the past few months.

The university students and academics also recommended that teachers' work loads be lightened by entrusting some activities to university students, recent graduates, or field experts. This would also allow these "personal teachers' assistants" to become familiar with job opportunities in education.

 "Success at school" is the title of the report from the group, which investigated the quality of education, high drop out rates, students' choices for further study, the teacher shortage, and the poor tailoring of education to the labour market. The social costs of these problems add up to EUR 13 billion per year, the Think-Tank had already calculated.

The teacher shortage is a vicious circle, according to the Think-Tank. The shortage creates heavier workloads for teachers currently at school, this compromises the quality of education.

Too little attention to quality will lead to poor performance by students and that will in turn have a negative affect on the reputation of education and discourage young people from a career in education.

[Copyright Expatica News + ANP 2007]

Subject: Dutch news