One of the recommendations in the manifesto reads: ensure there’s one place at the institution where students can go with all their questions about employment. Additionally, institutions could offer specific workshops to students with a disability on how to apply for jobs, and set up ‘personal career dossiers’ for students that could be consulted by potential employers.
Overlooked group
About five percent of all students in higher professional education have difficulty taking the step to employment on their own, in the words of Jan Raaijman of the Vocational Education-Job Market Expertise Centre in Nijmegen (Kenniscentrum Beroepsonderwijs Arbeidsmarkt Nijmegen). “This means that we’re losing a great deal of high-quality employment potential. They form an overlooked group in strategies for tackling youth unemployment”, he says.
The signatories to the manifesto want Minister Dijkgraaf to order the universities of applied sciences to maintain support for young people until they get their first job. They believe he should also give them the financial resources to do so. The Minister entered into talks today with students who need special support, but whether he will hand over the money is still unclear.
The manifesto was drawn up by students and staff from a number of universities of applied sciences. They wrote it in collaboration with partners, including the Expertise Centre for Inclusive Education (ECIO) and KBA Nijmegen.
