A study by psychometric research agency SCALIQ has revealed that school children in the Netherlands with an Arabic, African or Spanish name are often given lower secondary school advice than pupils with equal intelligence and a European-sounding name.  

Students’ names play factor in Dutch school placements

The Dutch school system divides secondary education into three main types: VMBO (preparatory secondary vocational education), which focuses on practical knowledge, and HAVO (senior general secondary education) and VWO (university preparatory education), which focus on theoretical courses. Advice given by primary schools plays an important role in deciding which level children will be placed in after Group 8.

Looking at just the intelligence and names of 6.409 secondary school students in the Netherlands with an average age of 13,9 years, SCALIQ determined that 50 percent of the 481 children with Arabic names and surnames were placed half a school level lower than students with similar intelligence levels that had a European or Dutch name. Children with African and Spanish names were also classified at slightly lower levels. SCALIQ calls for more research considering other factors that play a role, such as socio-economic status, cultural expectations and educational support from families at home.

SCALIQ researcher Femke Hovinga believes the results show an example of inequality of opportunity. "Purely and only your name leads to a big difference," Hovinga told NU.nl. She goes on to explain that the fact that children with Arabic names are placed half a level lower while there are a limited number of school levels makes a big difference. “Suppose you get a HAVO/VWO recommendation instead of VWO, then in practice a HAVO school level often results." 

This means that these students could face a long road if they want to eventually study at a research university. They would have to “stack up” different educational levels to get where they want, costing more money and taking longer to start a job in their desired field.

Wrong placements too often to be considered customisation

"Education professionals will probably say that they provide customised services," said Suzan de Winter-Koçak, senior researcher at Verwey-Jonker Institute. "That they also look at other things around a student and that this can lead to a different school recommendation." However, de Winter-Koçak believes this argument doesn’t apply as the advice given for students with or without “non-Dutch” names is too different. "Then explanations are more likely to be found in (unconscious) discrimination or institutional racism."

The Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW) is reportedly going to examine the research results. "We know that groups of students were structurally underestimated in the school advice," said a spokesperson for OCW. The ministry emphasises that students should be placed correctly in the transition to secondary school and maintains that the placement test is an “objective” way to prevent inequality and discrimination.

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