Continuing concerns about Covid consequences in Dutch education

In the second school year after the coronavirus, there are still concerns about the consequences the pandemic had on Dutch education. Some higher education students suffer from mental health problems, and kids in the upper classes of primary school and lower classes of high school are still trying to catch up on delays, according to a progress report the Education Ministers sent to parliament on Tuesday.

The Ministers mentioned several “bright spots.” Primary school pupils generally learn as quickly as before the pandemic. The number of students with study delays is falling, and fewer students are dropping out.

The number of students who passed their final exams and graduated is also almost back to the pre-pandemic level. In primary education, the differences between students with a lower or higher socio-economic background have become smaller after the pandemic increased this inequality.

But at the same time, concerns remain, outgoing Ministers Robbert Dijkgraaf for Higher Education and Marielle Paul for Primary and Secondary Education wrote. “The pandemic, unfortunately, has had a major and long-lasting impact on the mental health of many students,” Dijkgraaf said.

“Before coronavirus, there was already an increase in mental health problems. It is therefore important that extra attention continues to be paid to student well-being.”

And children at the end of primary school and the beginning of high school are still performing less well than before the coronavirus crisis.”We are certainly not there yet,” Paul said.

“It is important that all pupils feel good about themselves again and are given a solid foundation because that greatly determines how they develop further in life.”