Evaluation Co-Teach Computer Science

In 2022, the then Minister of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy (EZK) published the Digital Economy Strategy. The Netherlands aims to become a resilient, entrepreneurial, innovative, and sustainable digital economy. One of the goals of this strategy is to strive for 1 million digitally skilled individuals by 2030. At the same time, the subject of computer science at HAVO and VWO level faces a significant shortage of teachers, and education must compete with the business sector for IT professionals. For various reasons, education often loses this battle, and when incumbent teachers leave a school, they often choose to discontinue offering the subject. This gradual disappearance threatens the availability of computer science courses and the necessary infrastructure. Through the Co-Teach Informatics (CTI) programme, secondary school students can take computer science lessons and complete the curriculum, even in the absence of a qualified computer science teacher at their school. CTI aims to alleviate the shortage of computer science teachers, enabling students to develop the digital skills necessary for working in the digital domain and improving the job market for computer science teachers by having secondary schools keep the position open. The programme has three main objectives:

1. Participating students receive computer science education;
2. The computer science curriculum and infrastructure are maintained and expanded;
3. The job market for computer science teachers improves due to an increase in demand and supply.

In partnership with Oberon, we conducted an analysis on behalf of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW) to evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of the CTI programme and how it can be sustained in the long term. Our evaluation indicates that the programme is effective in providing continuity in computer science education, but there are challenges in areas such as school and guest teacher recruitment, organizational implementation, and enhancing teaching materials. Stakeholders are generally positive, and experience shows that ownership within the school and suitable teaching staff are crucial for success. For more information, please visit aanpaklerarentekort.nl.