MPs back holding a parliamentary inquiry into 20 years of educational reforms following growing concern that the changes are not boosting standards. Last Friday school pupils and students held a protest demonstration in The Hague demanding more traditional teaching

The inquiry is set to begin once the new cabinet has been sworn in. It will look in particular at the system known as ‘new learning’ in which pupils learn by carrying out tasks and teachers take a more advisory role.
There has been growing concern over Dutch educational standards in recent weeks after it emerged that large numbers of first year students and trainee teachers cannot spell properly or do simple arithmetic.