{"id":176681,"date":"2025-03-11T13:25:16","date_gmt":"2025-03-11T12:25:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=176681"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:27:43","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:27:43","slug":"medical-students-providing-tutoring-in-rotterdam-zuid-equal-opportunities-start-with-an-exercise-book-and-a-safe-place","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2025\/03\/11\/medical-students-providing-tutoring-in-rotterdam-zuid-equal-opportunities-start-with-an-exercise-book-and-a-safe-place\/","title":{"rendered":"Medical students providing tutoring in Rotterdam-Zuid: equal opportunities start with an exercise book and a safe place"},"content":{"rendered":"

A group of friends who met at Medicine saw for themselves how big an impact inequality of opportunity in education can have. So they started a foundation, which now organises tutoring in Rotterdam-Zuid. They help with parabolas and graphs: \u201cMy parents learned maths in a very different way.\u201d<\/p>\n

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One of the volunteers helps a student with homework.<\/span><\/p>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tKim Casamitjana<\/span>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

On the walls of the HefHouse, brightly coloured sticky notes display mathematical formulas: Pythagoras\u2019 theorem on a bright-pink piece of paper, a simultaneous equation on a bright-yellow one. In the corner of the room, in front of the window, is a red bench surrounded by green plants. Two high school students sit at the table, their exercise books and laptops open, ready for an hour and a half of intensive tutoring. Here, in Rotterdam-Zuid, they receive free support with their homework as part of an initiative set up by a group of medical students.<\/p>\n

Drawing on personal experience<\/h2>
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Zekeriya (in the middle) knows what it's like to get through school without the right support. That's why he's a board member of the foundation.<\/span><\/p>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tKim Casamitjana<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>

The StudieBoost Foundation was set up by students who had seen for themselves how big an impact inequality of opportunity can have. For the Medicine programme, students\u2019 socio-economic backgrounds play a role in admissions. Students who grow up in an environment where tutoring is taken for granted often have an advantage, because they are better prepared for the demands of the programme. Unfortunately, not everyone has access to that extra support, which reduces equality of opportunity. With StudieBoost, the founders aim to address this inequality and provide more equal opportunities for students, regardless of their background.<\/p>\n\n\t

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Lees meer<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t