Finishing school is one of the key life events that the Dutch like to celebrate. School exam season gets a lot of attention here, so even though I’m not entirely interested, it’s hard to avoid. On the first day of exams it was all over the press that a question had been removed from one of the Dutch exams [en] for being too politically-biased.
As background, school students are streamed from the age of 12. This year there are around 200,000 students studying for exams at three levels:
- VMBO (voorbereidend middelbaar beroepsonderwijs, 4 years, ~110,000 students), which is vocational;
- HAVO (hoger algemeen voortgezet onderwijs, 5 years, ~50,000 students), which is required for further polytechnic education; and
- VWO (voorbereidend wetenschappelijk onderwijs, 6 years, ~40,000 students), which is required for university education.
Every year there is a reality show broadcast during exams (De klas van 2009, The Class of 2009), which follows eight students, this year from Lelystad. I accidentally caught this last year, where I discovered that the students get coffee breaks during exams. We didn’t even get that at uni, let alone at school. This year’s opening episode focussed on the school prom, so even American traditions get a run here. The second episode showed the VMBO students doing their huishoudkunde (household skills) exam. They can iron better than I can. Although where manicures fit into the curriculum is lost on me.
One of the students in the 2008 show was a committee member for the national student advisory board. The board offers an advice and complaints line, as well as the answers to exams a day or two later, so the students can take a punt at how well they’ve done. This year’s big complaint is that the VWO Dutch exam had too many open-ended questions compared to last year — 3500 calls were taken in a few hours following the exam, and 10,000 within a few days.
Looking at past exams though is interesting. Firstly, it’s curious that only ten or so foreign languages are offered, compared to the 40+ languages that are offered by the education board in Victoria. Secondly, as part of the English exam, there’s no requirement to write in English. It’s purely reading English texts: multiple-choice questions are posed in English and short-answer questions are asked and answered in Dutch. There is a warning at the start of the exam paper that answers in English will receive zero points, unless it has been explicitly asked for. However, in my French exam (ok, over 10 years ago now, but it hasn’t changed), I was required to read and listen to French texts and answer in English and write a longer text in French, therefore demonstrating several skills in two hours.
As with all key life events, there are traditions involved. In Sweden a few Junes ago, I came across some trucks carrying loads of students, all wearing sailor-type hats. Here, if someone in the household has passed their exams, then their schoolbag is hung on the the flagpole outside the house. It’s a nice, sedate way to mark the transition from school to work or college or uni.
5 Comments
May 31, 2009 at 8:31 pm
I’d lie to point out that the reading part of the exam is in fact only 1/4 of the thinkgs tested. In february there were an oral exam (focussed on pronounciation), a presentation on an important issue, a list of books to read and a test where you have to listen and then answer questions. So it’s not just the reading part.
June 2, 2009 at 6:36 pm
Thanks for clarifying that, Anneke. I knew there was also an oral exam (which we also have in Victoria for those foreign languages that can be spoken, shall we say), however the other parts I didn’t know about.
June 1, 2009 at 10:38 am
Coffee breaks?!
There are some traditions we could learn from in Australia.
June 2, 2009 at 6:37 pm
Maybe it wasn’t a break as such, but the facility to actually go get a coffee — I distinctly remember a student getting a drink and the cameraman asking him (in a whisper) how it was going.
But you’re right — we should have that at uni. I guess there’s some (possibly OH&S) reason for why not though. At the Staatsexamen, we weren’t allowed to even have water bottles on our desk because it was a “distraction”. They didn’t say anything about my snacks though.
June 7, 2009 at 9:51 am
Spotted on Friday night in the city: a trail of slow-moving cars (some fancy, some not so fancy) containing dressed-up students. Apparently it’s formal season, now that exams are over. Some photos of the galas in the surrounding towns can be seen at http://www.ed.nl/specials/fotoalbums/gala/.