When I wrote “The 8 Secrets of Dutch Kids, the Happiest Kids in the World“, I received quite a few disgruntled complaints, especially in regards to my 4th secret -“Dutch kids feel no pressure to excel in school and have very little stress. They have no homework or have very little and thus have plenty of time to play after school.”
Since my time is actually very scarce (I am an expat mom with absolutely no family help, a workaholic husband and a precocious toddler), I decided to dedicate a blog post directly addressing the comments about the Dutch educational system.
I’m convinced that part of the underlying reason for the resounding happiness of Dutch kids is because they are in a relatively, stress free educational environment that emphasizes learning and here are my five reasons why:
1. Dutch researchers reiterate the stance that pressure on academic performance is not as high as compared to the rest of the world.
Utrecht University, the Trimbos Institute and the Netherlands Institute for Social Research participated in a comprehensive study where 200,000 children aged 11, 13 and 15 from 39 different countries were surveyed. The children were asked how happy and healthy the children felt, their relationships with their parents and friends and their overall school experience.
According to Professor Wilma Vollebergh of Utrecht University, “The Netherlands has a social culture, with open and safe relationships between parents and their children, and the same applies to the relationships that children have with each other. The pressure to perform is also not as high here.”
I’m trusting that the Dutch kids surveyed were honest about their answers and that these Dutch researchers know a thing, or two about the Dutch educational system. Wouldn’t you?
2. For the most part, Dutch students under the age of 10, receive very little or almost no homework.
Some newspapers circulating around actually state that abslutely no homework given to school children under the age of ten. The amount of homework depends upon the discretion of the local schools, but overall, Dutch teachers and parents recognize the importance of play after school is more important than hitting the books. Students start receiving homework at the end of their primary school year but definitely not in the same quantity as those in the United States. Who really benefits from homework anyway?
3. Dutch students are tested for their relative intelligence, but the advice given is not binding.
At the end of the their 8th year of school, usually around age 12, Dutch children must take a CITO test designed to evaluate their overall “intelligence“. While there might be some moderate levels of stress, overall, Dutch students take it with stride. Here is what is crucial to understand–the results of the CITO test are suggestion only.
According to the Dutch government’s official stance, “primary schools advise each child and their parents the most appropriate type of secondary education, based on the CITO test score, the child’s performance in previous years and his/her personal interests.” An important caveat is-“The advice is not binding.”
The parents and child are ultimately the ones who decide which best educational track the child would be happiest in. For a more detailed, official explanation of the Dutch educational system, please refer to the official Dutch Education website.
4. Dutch high school students do not face the same high anxiety stress levels as students from the rest of the world ( such as the United States, Singapore, China, and Korea to name a few).
When a group of VWO Dutch students were shown a video called Race to No Where depicting the streotypical American high school experience, they unanimously agreed that they did not experience anything even remotely similar to what they saw in the video.
5. There is a general acceptance of mediocrity among Dutch parents and kids.
In the same Volkskrant article, one pre-university VWO student, which supposedly means that she is part of the intellectual elite, stated:
The relatively relaxed environment can (being the operative word, not always) also extend to places of higher education. According to the University of Twente, international students are given the impression that:
“Competition hardly plays a role in Dutch educational culture: students are seldom graded against each other. The teacher sets a minimum score and passes all students that meet this criterion. Dutch students are usually not very interested how they rank in class; they are mainly concerned with passing the course. Students striving to be the best will not talk about it as it is not done in the Netherlands to be too competitive or work too hard
You can still become very successful regardless of how well you do in school, or what level of schooling you’ve accomplished. Supposedly more is being done in parliament to change this attitude. The Volkskrant cautions this movement as being spearheaded by “a significant number of ministers who only got nines by holding their report cards upside down.”
Bonus Number 6: If you actually graduate from a pre-university VWO program, you can apply directly to medical school. High school students who graduate with an 8 get automatic admission into a 6 year medical school program. Those who scored lower can join a weighted lottery to get into medical school. And they can keep reapplying to the medical school lottery up to a certain number of times. How lucky is that?
In all fairness, Dutch students may still face moderate levels of stress. However, it is important to keep in mind (assuming that I am writing to a world audience), that the “stress” Dutch students encounter is definitely not the same degree as to those students in much more competitive environments, particularly their Asian counterparts. There are also many Dutch families who place a lot of importance on the academic performance of their children. In fact, times are changing and there might be a social revolution that would end the cultural emphasis on being mediocre, the infamous zesjescultuure.
Most importantly, the current and future happiness of Dutch children is not inextricably linked to what level schooling they are placed under, nor does it really determine their future earning potential. Actually, being born Dutch pretty much guarantees you a decent life (but that’s a whole other blog post all together-please come back to read that one!).
Perhaps the rest of the world can learn a bit more about this obscure Nothern European country that consistently ranks time and time again as having the happiest kids in the world.
What’s it like in other countries? Do they also experience a similar institutional educational system where there is less stress?
