Eric Corton, healthcare participant: “But why should I take the numeracy test?”

“As a 55-year-old transfer student with a pre-college education diploma and living a very active life, I have to pursue exactly the same education as my 16-year-old counterpart who just dropped out of high school,” he wrote. Actor, presenter and disc jockey Eric Korton in an op-ed this week In Volkskrant I figured out.

Such a course includes a compulsory exam in Dutch and arithmetic, where he has to “under the supervision of the examiner, count the things he does not really need when washing, dressing, feeding and going to the toilet.”

According to Corton, if there is room to skip some topics that have nothing to do with health care, it is also possible to partially solve the health care shortage. MBO spokesman Jesse Burgers says the MBO Board agrees. “I understand the feeling. It's a bit uncomfortable to keep receiving this kind of assignments at such a late age.”

Exemptions are not possible for older generations

Although there is currently scope to skip some subjects in the MBO healthcare course – for people who obtained a HAVO or VWO diploma after 2013 – this does not apply to HAVO and VWO students who completed secondary school before 2013. Approx.

“This is because agreements were reached after 2013 on the level at which examinations are taken. This allows you to make comparisons with something that is at least the same level. But we would also like to see more flexibility in this regard in the context of ‘retraining’,” says Berger. ..

According to Burger, this topic has been around for some time. He also hears many stories of seniors who want to work in health care themselves, but find the bar too high. They have to follow the methods of learning Dutch, arithmetic and citizenship, even though they have already obtained them in high school. “Everyone is welcome to start a career in healthcare. There must be flexibility in the law to enable certain exemptions.”

The trade association for care nurses, V&VN, agrees. They state in response that life experience ensures that a person has already acquired citizenship education and other skills. “You shouldn't test people on that, but make exceptions.”

Customization

But according to the trade association, there must be tailored solutions among age groups. “A school dropout has to learn how to apply for jobs, but an older tech employee may have more to learn when reporting.”

Eric Corton concludes his opinion piece by calling for a system in which people can be trained for practically everyday tasks. “I think that way many older people will want to be at the bedside, who can do it well and carefully.”

Response from the Ministry of Education

RTL News asked the Ministry of Education to respond. They point out that it is important that lateral entrants are given the opportunity to complete health care training in an accessible way. “Fortunately, a lot is already possible. You don't always have to have a full MBO diploma to be able to perform certain care tasks. People can also follow one or more modules of an MBO course and obtain MBO certificates for this purpose.”

Account and language exemption rules are more limited. “But the professional institution can also offer these exams initially, and then the student does not have to continue education.”

The Ministry of Education also sees scope to make transfers smoother and is currently exploring a waiver policy.