School pupil group to take part in parliamentary elections

The Dutch national action committee for school pupils LAKS plan to take part in the parliamentary elections on March 15th. They feel that the current political parties aren't up to the task of stopping the negative developments in education, NOS reports. Sven Annen will be party leader for LAKS.

According to LAKS, current politicians are not acting in the interest of the students, focusing more and more on passing figures and money. This puts the Netherlands' future as knowledge economy at stake. "The fundamental problems are barely discussed in The Hague. Old people completely dominate the sound in politics. We are not confident that the current politicians can solve this." Annen said.

LAKS has a 20 point plan to stop the "terrible efficiency mindset" of education. To do so the central exams need to be rethought completely, starting with the abolition of the mandatory mathematics test, according to the pupils' group. LAKS also wants to ban private agencies that provide additional exam training at high costs and return the basic study grant so that all kids can study without incurring massive debts.

Annen would not speculate on how many parliamentary seats LAKS could get in the elections. LAKS will participate in the elections with a blank list, which means that the party will have a number on the ballot instead of a name. The fact that most school pupils can't vote yet is not a problem, according to Annen. "We also focus on students and parents who care about education. We expect to get much support like this."