Many young high school students don't have the required maths skills

A massive 72 percent of second-year students in pe-vocational secondary education (VMBO) and 20 percent in pre-university education (HAVO-VWO) do not have the required mathematics skills, the Education Inspectorate reported after polling these young high school students in the 2021-2022 year. The Inspectorate worries that the lack of maths skills will endanger these young people’s future prospects.

By the end second year of secondary education, VMBO students must have achieved level 1F - the minimum standard that must be met at the end of primary education focused on basic skills like reading a measuring instrument and converting sizes. Most VMBO second-year VMBO students don’t have that level.

HAVO and VWO students are required to reach level 2F - skills related to managing time and money, general orientation, and measurement skills. According to the Inspectorate, these skills are crucial for independent social functioning. A fifth of HAVO and VWO students don’t meet this requirement.

By the end of secondary education, VMBO students should be at level 2F, and HAVO and VWO students at level 3F - needed for success in higher education. Given that so many don’t meet the minimum requirements early in their secondary education career, the Inspectorate worries about their chances.

“Students who do not master these levels are limited in their future prospects,” the Inspectorate said. “After all, you come across figures both in your personal life and in your education or work. For example, in the form of amounts in the store and on the energy bill. But also as quantities in a recipe. Or in sums with which you solve a problem.”

Due to the teacher shortage, mathematics subjects are often taught by teachers who are not qualified, especially in VMBO, according to the Inspectorate. Despite this, most secondary education students say their maths teacher explains things well and in different ways until they understand.

It thinks the cause for the delay may be partly a poor connection between primary education and secondary education. For example, the secondary school teacher may use different names for the same concepts. The maths skills children acquire in primary education are not sufficiently maintained in secondary education.

The Inspectorate urged secondary education to pay more attention and time to teaching basic mathematics skills, also bringing maths elements into other subjects. Maths lessons also require “further professionalization,” the Inspectorate said, urging schools to improve their quality.