Red flags in higher education: the State of Education in Brief
Increased dropout rates, language problems, social insecurity in higher education ... There are all sorts of red flags in the Education Inspectorate's annual report. Here are the main points.
Dropout rate is increasing
Fewer students are starting college and university. Also, more students are dropping out in the first year of study. The leniency of the corona time plays a role: the dropout rate in the second year has also increased significantly.
There are blind spots in quality assurance....
The monitoring of courses has blind spots. For example, hardly any attention is paid to the effects of internationalization on students’ language skills. Such blind spots can “erode society's confidence in the quality of higher education and this form of accreditation.”
... and interviews with inspectors are often not made public
Colleges are not only inspected but are also given advice on how to improve education. They should make that advice public, but the vast majority of programs do not.
Writing skills must improve
The government must make it clear how programs should improve the language skills of their students. Especially in English-language programs, students have little opportunity to improve their Dutch language skills.
The State of Education is a report released annually by the Education Inspectorate. In it, the Inspectorate looks at what is going well in education and where there are areas for improvement. This applies to all sectors, i.e. primary, secondary and higher education.
More help expected with internships
Three out of ten students give an insufficient grade to the internship guidance provided by their course of study. Many students also struggle to find an internship and feel that they receive too little help. Internship discrimination is also a problem, reports eight percent of students.
Participation must change
It has not been possible to get students interested in participation, although politicians have high expectations of participation. Perhaps the participation should be fundamentally different, "more suited to the current times.”
Social insecurity
Art schools in particular have instituted policies to improve social safety, but does it work in practice? There is still too little attention being paid to this.
Income inequality stagnant
Fewer children from poor families are getting higher education - and even fewer beging admitted to programs with restricted admission - but the good news is that these children have about the same chance within the programs as others do.
Law is outdated
The Higher Education and Research Act squeaks and creaks. When it was written, higher education was not nearly as internationalized, nor did digital education exist.
