In the 2021/2022 academic year, more than 35,000 young people left school without obtaining a qualification. This is an increase of more than 12 percent compared to the school year 2018/2019, before the Corona epidemic. This is according to the Central Bureau of Statistics Youth Monitor.
School leavers are young people aged 12 to 23 who leave a training course before taking an entry-level qualification. An entry level qualification means completion of HAVO or VWO training or at least MBO Level 2 basic vocational training.
The number of school leavers has been increasing since 2016. The corona years were an exception: during this time, grades and the issuance of the final certificate were handled more flexibly due to online teaching. The upward trend continued last year.
Four out of five school leavers were pursuing further vocational training. In total, more than 28,000 students stayed here. Many young people drop out of their education, especially at levels 2 and 4.
motivation
According to CBS researcher Tanja Traag, drop-out can be explained, among other things, by the delay in the corona impact: “During the two school years of corona, secondary schools were more lenient when issuing final certificates. “This is probably why a relatively large number of students pursue vocational education even if they are not yet developmentally ready.”
Young people also often start education with wrong expectations. Traag believes that many young people are leaving school because they are not doing well: “We have been seeing in the figures for a long time that the well-being of young people is falling. The number of young people with mental health problems has also increased.”
MBO Council
The MBO Council also sees many young people dropping out of school. According to spokeswoman Jessy Burgers, students often make course selections too quickly. “In addition to secondary vocational education, secondary schools also have the duty to guide young people in the right way.”
Money also plays a role, according to Burgers: “We see that a relatively large number of young people still prefer to work. While there are many possibilities in the job market, school actually costs money. However, we do not see this as a desirable situation. We.” We pay attention to the fact that during restructuring, the first people to leave the company are those without a degree.
girls and boys
Boys traditionally drop out of education more often than girls. “Boys have always belonged to so-called risk groups,” says Traag. “They are more likely to drop out of school and more likely to engage in impulsive behavior such as using drugs. “It has to do with leaving school early.”
What is striking is that there are as many boys as girls in the number of school dropouts recently. According to Traag, this situation is also relevant in the Corona period: “Girls are exposed to all kinds of psychological complaints much more frequently. “We also know that some girls experienced the Corona period more negatively than boys.”
Education Minister Dijkgraaf recently presented a plan to combat school dropouts. In April the minister referred to 30,000 school leavers in a letter to the House of Representatives.
Statistics Netherlands has a higher figure because it also includes young people receiving private education without financial support. In addition, the Ministry of National Education does not take into account young people who go to work immediately with an MBO 1 diploma (MBO Entry).
Source: NOS
Roy Brown is a renowned economist and author at The Nation View. He has a deep understanding of the global economy and its intricacies. He writes about a wide range of economic topics, including monetary policy, fiscal policy, international trade, and labor markets.
