Flemish Minister of Education Ben Weyts (N-VA) launched a digital version of the Koala Test on Monday morning, the language screening for children in the third kindergarten class. The digital version of the Koala Test is freely accessible and can be used free of charge.
The Koala Test, a language screening for every student in the third kindergarten class, was launched in 2021 to increase the quality of education with the Dutch language as a lever. The test will be administered for the third time this year between October 10 and November 30. Teachers can guide students with language delays before they start primary school.
The Koala Test is now also being launched digitally because it became clear in previous editions that a paper test was labor-intensive and time-consuming for nursery teachers. They often had to print large numbers of A4 sheets, have them completed and then keep track of them.
To put an end to this additional planning burden in nursery education, schools can use this digital language screening free of charge from Monday. According to Weyts, schools save a lot of time and copying costs. “And it is also good news for the toddlers,” says Weyts. “The digital language screening can be adapted faster and better to the needs of the child.”
Preschoolers with language delays can thus be brought up to speed in the same year. Preschoolers who are still behind in Dutch at the end of the third year of kindergarten will be given a language integration program in the first year, “such as a language immersion class or a full-fledged alternative,” says the minister. The class council can also advise that the toddler must repeat another year in the third kindergarten class.
Key
The figures show that 10 percent of children require guidance in the third year of kindergarten, and 4 percent require intensive guidance. “Anyone who wants to increase the quality of education must also further increase the quality of Dutch,” Weyts continues. “Dutch is the key to all school knowledge and to our society. It is the subject that makes all other subjects possible.”
Weyts also wants to focus for the first time on ‘minimum goals to be achieved’ for Dutch. Previously, it was about minimum goals that could be ‘achieved’. The development process of these ‘minimum goals to be achieved’ has already started, following an agreement with the education providers, Weyts informed Belga. The digital version of the Koala Test was developed by Plantyn publishers and Digital Service Agency Wisemen. “We are very pleased with the trust placed in Plantyn to digitize the Koala test,” says Bart Dooms, general manager of Plantyn publishers. “This fully fits in with our strategy to be a true partner for the entire educational field.”
This article is originally published on bruzz.be
