This presentation was given by Maarten Vollenbroek from the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science at the GCES Conference on Governing Education in a Complex World during the first Workshop A on Participatory Governance in Brussels on 17 October.

1. Participatory
Governance
The Dutch example
Maarten Vollenbroek
m.r.vollenbroek@minocw.nl
Workshop GCES-conference
Brussels, October 17th, 2016

2. THE DUTCH SCHOOL SYSTEM
FACTS AND FIGURES
GCES-conference Brussels, October 17th 2016

3. Primary Education
• Average expenditures per
pupil: € 6400
• 1.158.000 pupils
• 135.000 staff
• 7261 schools
• 1138 school boards (1-60
schools)
Secondary Education
• Average expenditures per
pupil: € 7800
• 941.000 pupils
• 104.000 staff
• 645 schools
• 344 school boards
GCES-conference Brussels, October 17th 2016

4. Two examples
Size of school boards is highly diverse:
The smallest (‘t Kompas, Den Bommel)
1 school
42 pupils
€350.000 annually
5 teachers
The largest (BOOR, Rotterdam)
78 schools
30.000 pupils
€248.000.000 annually
Over 3000 teachers
GCES-conference Brussels,
October 17th 2016

5. Guiding principles:
• The Minister of Education
• Schoolboards
• Inspectorate of Education
Centralised policy implemented by school boards with a high
degree of school autonomy.
School freedom balanced by strong accountability mechanism
Dilemma:
school autonomy  national targets
GCES-conference Brussels,
October 17th 2016

6. + Gelijkheid vs.
kwaliteit
GCES-conference Brussels, October 17th 2016

7. However,
GCES-conference Brussels, October 17th 2016

8. Yes, we can!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eclbaC3q94k
Well…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzrI15uw92k
GCES-conference Brussels,
October 17th 2016

9. CASE
EARLY SCHOOL LEAVE
GCES-conference Brussels, October 17th 2016

10. Approach to Early School Leave: Why?
Dropping out of school effects:
- Youth unemployment
- Crime rates (5 times as high for ESL’s)
- Healthcare costs
Overall:
• Annual benefits of tackling ESL are higher than costs (900 vs
700 million Euro)
GCES-conference Brussels,
October 17th 2016

11. Tackling ESL is priority for EU
- EU-definition of early school leaving (18-24 years old without a
basic qualification)
- Reducing ESL to less than 10% by 2020 is a headline target in
the Europe 2020 strategy
GCES-conference Brussels,
October 17th 2016

12. 15,4% ESL in 2000  8,2% ESL in 2015
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October 17th 2016

13. GCES-conference Brussels,
October 17th 2016
0.0%
2.0%
4.0%
6.0%
8.0%
10.0%
12.0%
14.0%
16.0%
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
EU-28
NL
Sweden

14. Regional Approach (‘golden triangle’)
GCES-conference Brussels,
October 17th 2016
Schools
Ministry of
Education,
Culture
and
Science
Municipality

15. Ingredients of working together
• Long-term performance agreements
(between ministry, municipalities and schools)
• Strict percentage targets and performance bonus if met.
• The goal (or: ‘the what’) is clear
• The way to get there (or: ‘the how’) is up to the local
cooperation between municipalities, schools and other parties
• Last but not least: listening to eachother’s needs
GCES-conference Brussels,
October 17th 2016

16. Getting the numbers right
• Adequate and complete non-attendance and ESL registration
(Data collection and digital absence portal  early warning system)
• Detailed information products help schools, regions and
the ministry to target resources aimed at reducing ESL
• Better registration, better analysis
• Consistent and reliable comparisons between years
GCES-conference Brussels,
October 17th 2016

17. Introduction of the Education Number
GCES-conference Brussels,
October 17th 2016
VET institution
Secondary
school
1-stop
shop
(DUO)
Other stakeholders, such
as
•Juvenile Care
Centre of Work &
Income
Public Prosecutions
Service
Truancy officer
Min. of Educ.,
Education
Inspectorate
Other
Municipality of
residence:
School Drop-out
Registration and
Coordination Centre
(RMC)
School Attendance
officials

18. 18
Example of
information
product /
indicators

19. Accountmanagement
ESL Accountmanagement
• Inspiring and encouraging
• Monitoring
• Sharing the knowledge and good practices
• Linking pin
GCES-conference Brussels,
October 17th 2016

20. Why this succes?
Not 1 golden tip… Probably the mix does the trick:
• Golden Triangle: the regional approach
• Listen to the practical problems and act on them
• Getting the numbers right
• Clear targets with a money-bonus if met
• Laws in place (obligation to report truancy; obliged start-qualification)
• Accountmanagers
• The right people (sometimes a bit unorthodox)
GCES-conference Brussels,
October 17th 2016

21. Other lessons learned
Analysis of succes learns us:
- If only the ESL-coordinator defines the approach, succes is
significantly less
- When schools and teams of teachers are involved in the
process, succes is significantly higher
Also did we leave it to the regions in 2012 to first make their own
analysis of their ESL-situation
 Feeling of ownership was high, the quality of the several
analysis differentiated
GCES-conference Brussels,
October 17th 2016

22. Not everybody happy
Not happy:
The organisations representing the schoolboards
Why?
They were not involved
GCES-conference Brussels,
October 17th 2016

23. GCES-conference Brussels,
October 17th 2016

24. 2424
Golden Triangle;
Regional differences
Providing, analyzing and
translating local results to the
regions and schools
But local policies or measures are
not imposed centrally…

25. Golden Triangle; Regional differences
.. Instead regions and other entities look at their own situation and
benchmark across comparable regions / municipalities / schools and act
accordingly (making local policies/measures etc.)
2525

26. 26
Getting the figures right; ESL Explorer

27. The future
- Strong networks
- Specific information
Dilemma’s:
- Investing in relations combined with conflict of interests
- How representative is your network?
- Information itself guides behaviour (sometimes unintended)
GCES-conference Brussels,
October 17th 2016

28. 28
University
education
(wo)
4 years
Higher
professional
education
(hbo)
4 years
Upper
secondary
vocational
education
(VET) (mbo)
4 levels
1-4 years
Adult
education
Pre-university
education
(vwo)
6 years
General
secondary
education
(havo)
5 years
Pre-vocational
education
(vmbo)
4 paths
4 years
Primary education
8 years
Overall view of the educational system

29. 29
Overall view of the educational system (2)