What are the key educational issues of importance to policy makers in the Netherlands?
The Dutch policy makers are mainly focused on development towards a globalised knowledge economy. In reaching this goal, it is necessary to develop participation within higher education.
The Dutch government aims at a participation rate of 50% by the year 2010 - by then half of the population should have participated in higher education programmes.
Growth in participation rates at Dutch secondary schools must largely come from enabling non-traditional groups to enter higher education, such as people who have completed some form of vocational education and employees. As a result, key educational issues at the moment include enhancing lifelong learning, creating continuous learning pathways, combining learning at school and learning at work, and lowering the rate of students leaving education at secondary level.
How do policy makers in the Netherlands contribute to the country's technology enhanced learning agenda?
The Dutch agenda for fundamental research into TEL is not so much affected by these political concerns, but the agenda for applied research is affected. Much applied research in higher education is initiated by the SURF foundation (in consultation with the ministry of Education). Recently, the SURF foundation launched the National action plan e-learning for the coming years, in which continuous learning pathways, lifelong learning and internationalisation are important themes.
More information Dutch ministry of Education SURF (Dutch Higher education and research partnership organization for network services and information and communications technology (ICT))
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