Extra schoolvakken met paarden, koken en meer praktijk

What is Dutch “praktijkonderwijs”?

Praktijkonderwijs is a Dutch hands-on education track woven through the vmbo and into specialised secondary schools. Where havo and vwo lean theoretical, praktijkonderwijs schools weave in vocational and applied subjects: paardenverzorging, koken, autotechniek, bouw, zorg, agrarisch werk, creatieve vakken. Many middelbare scholen now build praktijkonderwijs-streams to compete in the aanmelding-market, offering subjects like horse-care or culinary arts that rural and vmbo-bound students gravitate toward. The track is treated as fully respected (sometimes), though praktijkonderwijs students still face residual snobbery from vwo-track peers.

In this clip, a Dutch student explains: “Op deze middelbare school leer je hoe je dieren verzorgt.”