Manifesto calls attention to problems students face

“Make sure we can study properly”, is the message of a manifesto from four student and pupil interest groups. On Tuesday, they presented it to the House of Representatives.

Education should be a major theme in the run-up to the elections on 29 October, argue the student organisations ISO, LSVb and JOBmbo, along with the pupil organisation LAKS. That is why they drafted a manifesto together.

“Students and pupils are growing up in a country where performance pressure is high, opportunities are unequally distributed, mental health problems among students and pupils are increasing, and many students are struggling to make ends meet”, it states.

Sweating

The four organisations demand, among other things, a higher basic grant and compulsory internship allowances. Politics should also combat discrimination in education and make education more accessible.

They also criticise the performance pressure on pupils and students. “We must get rid of sweating, knowing and forgetting. Shift the focus away from grades and back to the learning process.” Their demands also target the central final exams in secondary education, which they argue should carry less weight.

Fierce political debates

In higher education, they want to abolish the ‘binding’ study advice (bsa) at the end of the first year, so that students can no longer be expelled if they fail to obtain enough credits. Many universities of applied sciences have already relaxed the binding study advice.

The demands in the manifesto are not entirely new. Politicians have been debating student wellbeing and the financial problems of young people for years. The basic grant was abolished for eight years and reinstated in 2023. The binding study advice, too, has consistently sparked fierce political debates.