Education minister Marja van Bijsterveldt’s plan to improve the standard of vocational training (mbo) cannot be put into practice and will be too expensive, mbo college chiefs say.

‘The minister is aiming too high with this plan,’ Jan van Zijl, head of the mbo trade school council told the Volkskrant.
The trade schools’ main objection is the minister’s wish to reduce the amount of time spent on internships and developing practical skills and to boost the theoretical elements such as writing and arithmetic instead. She also wants to reduce the length of a full course from four to three years.
Schools agree with making the courses more compact, the school heads say.
However, they want the minister to come up with more money. Van Bijsterveldt has set aside €150m to fund the changes, but accountants group Ernst & Young calculates the process will cost over €483m.