Holiday weeks can be used for education activities, such as re-examinations. The Central Representative Advisory Board (Dutch abbreviation: CMR) expressed its surprise about this when it was faced with the annual timetable for the next academic year.
Photograph: Ivelin Aleksandrov
In the new annual time table, nine weeks of education are planned in the first quarter in stead of the usual ten. The cause of this is the unfavourable 'timing' of a number of holidays. In order to realise sufficient hours of education, the academies can use the autumn holidays for education activities.
"There is actually nothing new about the annnual time table, we only made existing policy visible," Boomkamp explained during the meeting with the CMR. “It was determined in the past that no re-examinations can be held during the regular weeks of education. If necessary, diverting to a week of holidays is allowed.”
The chairman of the board finds it a normal rule. “It is a bit of flexibilisation, and furthermore, it is policy already. One part of the whole of this is that staff wanting time off outside of weeks of holidays, can have that."
The CMR has indicated wanting to agree to the annual time table under two conditions: that the education and examination regulations of the courses are known no later than at the start of the academic year and that there will be a discussion about the division of the quarters. The Board of Directors agrees to both conditions.