EM nominated for National Prize for Education Journalism

EM editor Tessa Hofland has been nominated for the National Prize for Education Journalism for her article ‘Why it is so difficult to expel unsuitable medical students’. The award ceremony will take place on 7 November in Amsterdam.

Why is it so difficult – if not impossible – to expel unsuitable medical students? That question had long occupied the EM editorial team and became relevant again after the triple murder committed by a medical student from Erasmus MC in 2023.

Hofland’s investigation shows that since the early 2000s, examination boards and programme directors have been seeking greater authority to expel unsuitable medical students. These are students who display unprofessional behaviour and endanger fellow students, colleagues or patients, for example through intimidation, aggression or violence. Since 2010, a regulation has existed to remove such students, but examination boards describe it as ‘an empty shell in practice’.

For the article, Hofland spoke with doctors and trainers from Erasmus MC and other hospitals, and delved into legal rulings, legislation, regulations and other documents. She spent nearly six months on the investigation, which ultimately resulted in this special:

Four other publications have been nominated for the award (all in Dutch): Henk Strikkers of BN/De Stem with ‘Het eerste jaar van nieuwe juf Esmee’; Irene de Zwaan, Jurre van den Berg, Ben Meindertsma, Erik Verwiel and Serena Frijters of De Volkskrant for their articles on the progression test for primary school pupils; Nikki Brands and Jan Hein Strop of Follow the Money with the article ‘Bijlesmiljonair verrijkte zich met ‘Sywert-constructie’ over de rug van kansarme kinderen’; and Lisanne van Sadelhof of Onderwijsblad with ‘Thuiszittend kind dwingt wethouder voorbij de cijfers te kijken’.

The jury consists of Hans de Clercq (director of the School of Journalism in Utrecht), Addie de Moor (assistant professor of journalistic writing training), Pieter Slaman (assistant professor of the history of education) and Karin Westerbeek (teacher at Minkema College in Woerden and deputy secretary of the Education Council).

The award ceremony will take place on Friday 7 November at Spui25 in Amsterdam. Beforehand, there will be a debate on artificial intelligence in education. The National Prize for Education Journalism has existed since 2008 and is awarded annually. The prize was established to stimulate debate about education in the Netherlands.