Many Turkish and Moroccan pupils in schools with extra supervision

Secondary school children with a foreign background are more likely to be in education for children who need extra supervision (lwoo). These special classes in pre-vocational education (vmbo) aim to provide more individual supervision for pupils with learning or behavioural problems. Thirty percent of Turkish and Moroccan children in the third year of pre-vocational training are in a lwoo class, compared with 16 percent of native Dutch third year children. In Rotterdam relatively few Turkish and Moroccan vmbo pupils are in the lwoo stream.

One in ten pupils in extra supervision classes

In school year 2004/’05 192 thousand pupils were in the third year of secondary education. Nearly 60 percent were in pre-vocational education (vmbo), 20 percent were in general secondary education (havo) and 20 percent in pre-university education (vwo). One in ten third-year pupils were in classes with extra supervision (lwoo) because of learning or behavioural problems.

Pupils in year 3 of secondary education, 2004/’05

Three-quarters of lwoo pupils in basic vocational training

Fifty-three percent of native Dutch pupils in the third year of secondary education were in pre-vocational streams in 2004/’05. For non-western foreigner children this was 71 percent. Children in these steams who need more individual attention are placed in special classes with extra supervision (lwoo). Some 76 percent of children in lwoo classes were in basic vocational training, while 18 percent were in intermediate level vocational training.

More Turkish and Moroccan pupils need extra supervision

In 2004/’05, 18 percent of all pupils in the third year of vmbo  were in lwoo streams. The differences by ethnicity are considerable: 16 percent of Dutch native pupils were in lwoo steams, compared with 28 and 29 percent of Turkish and Moroccan pupils respectively.

Share of pupils in lwoo, vmbo year 3, 2004/’05

Highest rates of lwoo in Amsterdam

The rates of pupils in lwoo classes were relatively high in the four large cities: 23 percent of all vmbo pupils in year 3. The reason for this is that many non-western foreigners live in the big cities. In Amsterdam in particular, many foreign pupils are in lwoo steams. As many as 39 percent of Moroccan vmbo pupils were in these classes. Turkish and Moroccan pupils in Rotterdam were less likely than their Amsterdam peers to be in lwoo classes.

Share of pupils in the four large cities in lwoo, vmbo year 3, 2004/’05

Marijke Hartgers