Schools return as new Dutch and maths targets become law

Schools in the north of the Netherlands are the first to go back after the summer holidays, and they return to a new set of legally binding targets for what pupils have to learn in Dutch and maths.

The updated core curriculum objectives (kerndoelen) were written into law this month for the first time, NOS reported on Monday. They set out the knowledge and skills pupils are expected to acquire in primary school and the first years of secondary education.

The previous objectives dated from 2006 and were criticised as out of date, vague, and non-committal. There are now fewer of them for Dutch, but what pupils should be able to do is described more concretely. Literature has a clearly defined role, and language development is to be built into other subjects as well.

Junior education minister Judith Tielen said the change was needed because of a serious decline in basic language and maths skills.

Falling standards
The Netherlands was previously seen internationally as one of the leaders in reading, but standards have dropped sharply in recent years.

Tielen wrote to MPs recently that no other European country has seen learning performance fall as far, and school inspectors have found year after year that many children cannot read, write, or do basic maths at the expected level.

Earlier attempts to turn this around – a masterplan on basic skills launched in 2022 and the national programme set up to make up for learning lost during the coronavirus closures – have not had the intended effect, Tielen said. She is working on a new approach prioritising language.

The objectives for the remaining subjects, including two new ones – digital literacy and citizenship – are due to be made law next summer. Schools have until 2031 to incorporate all of them into their teaching.

Ilja Cornelisz, an education researcher at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam, said ambitious objectives do matter because basic skills are under pressure, but that more is needed to improve schooling.

The real task, he said, is giving teachers the professional room, the reliable knowledge, and the support to deliver the goals in their own classrooms, while leaving schools free to decide how they get there.