The Hague combating high school dropout rate

The Municipality of The Hague, ROC Mondriaan and secondary schools are pushing for a number of measures to reduce the number of high school dropouts in The Hague.

They would like to experiment with an extra year of school at the pre-vocational secondary education (VMBO) level. They are also pushing for extra lessons in the Dutch language, mathematics and learning skills at the general secondary education level (HAVO).

A pilot project at 3 VMBO schools and 2 HAVO schools in The Hague and Leidschendam-Voorburg will start up during the 2013-2014 school year.

According to Deputy Mayor Ingrid van Engelshoven (Education, Public Services), the additional year of instruction for VMBO students and more support for HAVO students should mean that their talents are being better used. ‘With support they can earn their diploma and advance to a higher level. We want to pave the way for them.’

The Hague had more than 1,600 high school dropouts during the 2010-2011 school year. The goal is to reduce this number by 300 each year.

To prevent students from dropping out of their MBO (vocational secondary education) programmes, the municipality is considering additional measures such as developing language, math and study skills, and offering career counselling and remedial teaching.

Here you can find more information on Secondary Education in the Netherlands.