SCP: Too little variation in background of secondary school students | NOW

Pupils often go to secondary schools where they mainly affect children with similar backgrounds, the Social and Cultural Planning Office (SCP) notes on Thursday. According to the organization, the situation can ultimately lead to greater distances between groups in society.

The choices made by school boards and parents have created a segregated educational offer, so that children from different backgrounds all go to their own school. As a result, children do not learn to interact with other groups, which can create a greater distance between groups in society, the SCP warns.

The SCP emphasizes that broader social skills, including intercultural skills, are of increasing importance for, for example, finding work and maintaining a social and professional network. According to the institute, you learn those skills more naturally in a more mixed environment.

Schools play a major role in this, because there students have to learn to live together in a complex and diverse society. “That assignment is not easy and teachers could be better equipped for that task. Teachers indicate that they sometimes find it difficult to discuss sensitive themes such as Islam or homosexuality”, says the SCP.

More direction from the government on the educational offer to meet the social challenges is desirable, according to SCP. Parents should also be aware that more widely organized education offers opportunities. “Not only for society, but also for the personal development of their child.”

Especially in the big cities, the chances of meeting pre-university students and pre-vocational secondary school students are small because students are spread over different schools, according to the SCP.

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