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international

‘The HvA is too focused on the average student’

Flora Woudstra Hablé,
10 november 2017 - 14:01

The HvA is too focused on the average student, claims Platform for Inclusion. Students can fall behind due to personal issues such as adhering to religious duties or mental and physical problems.

Research body Platform for Inclusion spent the past months talking to students, staff and the board of the HvA to identify what obstacles students face, and how the HvA can be seen as an ‘open and safe community’ for everyone.

 

Among their findings is that teachers treat their students too much like a uniform group. For example, a Jewish student had to repeatedly explain why he couldn’t take tests during the religious holiday Passover. There’s a tendency to ‘treat everyone the same,’ the body concludes.


Taboo topics

Teachers should also be less hesitant to discuss taboo topics such as religious difference and sexual diversity in class. Now these topics are often avoided.

 

The platform also points out that due to the size of the HvA, students can find it difficult to find help. They quote a student saying: ‘I suffer from depression and PTSD. I don’t fit the profile of the ideal student and I feel I get little guidance.’ The Platform cites ‘students with limitations’ as a group that suffers from a lack of guidance by the HvA.

 

The HvA organised an open work conference on November 7 in response to the Platform’s report. The Platform recommended the HvA workforce should become more diverse and spend more attention to the differences between individual students.