Young people who drop out of school early should be given a free skills assessment to demonstrate what they have learned. The outcome of the assessment could then be used to establish a tailored educational route to give candidates the basic level required for access to the labour market (senior secondary vocational education 2 (MBO-2)).
30 November 2004
In 2003, around 200,000 (15%) of 18 to 24 year-olds dropped out of school. They failed to obtain a diploma at the basic level providing labour market access. This number needs to reduce. Society is becoming increasingly knowledge-based, and in the European context the Netherlands has agreed to raise the educational standard of its population.
Encourage young people to take short tailored programmes
The Education Council therefore believes that the government must work on a new policy. A competencies assessment which focuses on prior work experience could encourage young people to go back to education. This education would preferably be a short, tailored programme that combines working and learning. Personal mentoring would be of considerable importance.
Because of the number of organisations involved when pupils drop out - schools, centres for early school-leavers, the Centre for Work and Income and the Youth Welfare Office - this approach should be coordinated by local authorities
The state secretary for education should allocate €7.5 million for this from 2006. This level of funding would allow 10,000 young people to take a competencies assessment in the form of a pilot. Furthermore, the government should make provision for the recognition of industry-specific awards and relevant experience (prior learning assessment and recognition, PLAR), so that these awards could be habilitated in the official diploma system. Industry bodies, the business community and the education system could then work on a common approach to awards and diplomas.