Due to all the class assignments we both had, we decided to hold this meeting in a coffee shop, taking the opportunity to have a coffee, learn about the basics of having a coffee in each other’s country, and also take the opportunity to make progress with our homework.
At the beginning, we talked about the education system in both countries. Personally, it is a subject that interests me a lot as I am studying to become a teacher and the educational differences in both countries have always attracted my attention.
At the beginning she told me about her day to day life at university (the highest level of education you can get). She has about 20 hours of class per week depending on the subjects chosen, and 1.5 hours of tutoring with her teacher and her classmates, which I find really interesting.
Then she talked to me about all the educational stages. What surprised me the most is that when they are 12 years old, they have to take 3 exams that can decide their future. All schools take the same exam at the same time and the name of the exam is “CITO”.
Depending on your results, you go to one institute or another. The order of least to most difficult is the next one:
Basis 4 years mbo
Kader 4 years mbo
Mavo 4 years mbo
Havo 5 years mbo
Vwo 6 years uni
Gymnasium 6 years uni
She also explained that not all of them can be taken at the same school.
We have also learnt new vocabulary words and phrases especially related to ordering a coffee or something to eat in the cafeteria.
Some of the phrases have been:
- Goedemorgen, mag ik een koffie verkeerd, alsjeblieft (Good morning, can I have a cafe late, please?)
- kan ik contant betalen (Can I pay by cash?)
Once again I have enjoyed the meeting. I feel that we are having a good organisation and that we continue to improve as time goes by.
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