Many Dutch high school students struggle to write a simple text: Inspectorate
Many children in the second year of secondary school struggle to write simple Dutch texts. They have not reached the basic level required at the end of primary school and risk struggling with low literacy for the rest of their lives, the Education Inspectorate reported on Thursday.
The basic level for writing, required at the end of primary school, is called 1F. Children at this level should be able to write a short, simple text about a familiar topic. They should also be able to compose an email to request information or congratulate someone.
According to the Inspectorate, one in six secondary school students hasn’t reached level 1F by the end of the second year of high school. In pre-vocational secondary education (VMBO), this figure reaches 40 percent of students.
“That’s tens of thousands of students at risk of low literacy,” the Inspectorate wrote.
Another 44 percent of students in the second year of high school have achieved level 1F, but haven’t made much further progress. They can write simple text, but struggle to express their opinions and feelings, and to write instructions, among other things.
The Inspectorate also found that only half of Dutch language teachers in secondary schools believe they possess sufficient knowledge and skills to teach writing. More than half would ike to pursue further training in the future, but many wonder when they’ll have time for it.
The Inspectorate asked experts in writing instruction to evaluate its findings. “These experts emphasize the importance of writing for reading and learning: writing is thinking,” the Inspectorate said. “With the advent of generative AI, it becomes even more important for schools to have an approach to strengthening writing skills.”
The Inspectorate urged schools to invest in increasing writing literacy by integrating writing instruction with other subjects. In doing so, schools will be killing two birds with one stone, the Inspectorate said. “Children learnt to write better and, as a result, can also learn better.”
