150,000 primary school pupils take test
Tuesday 02 February 2010
Over 150,000 primary school pupils on Tuesday begin three days of tests which will largely determine the type of secondary school they go to.
Around 85% of the country's primary schools use the Cito test, devised by a private institute, to check pupils' spelling and arithmetic.
Critics of the system say the tests put undue stress on children because most schools use the results as an entrance exam. Dutch secondary school pupils are usually streamed from the age of 12 and it is difficult to switch between different levels of education.
© DutchNews.nl
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Monday: Between 2º and 5º with light snow or sleet. Around zero at night. Similar Tuesday
Cito tests are a joke. They are not a very good indicator of a child's potential and cause many of the children to develop self esteem problems that follow them throughout their school years and stifle their development. The test are administered at too young an age to be an accurate indicator -- a child's aptitude and especially their emotional intelligence vary greatly during their puberty years, which is the exact time the Cito test are administered. This is yet another example of the "thinking-in-the-box" mentality the Dutch are famous for.
By Buzzer | February 2, 2010 4:00 PM