ENGLISH

The LAKS
The Landelijk Aktie Komitee Scholieren (LAKS) is an organisation of, for and by secondary school students. LAKS organises several activities for students and promotes their interests. The aim of LAKS is to put the students in the center of education and to give them a voice. In school, but also on a national level. We try to reach this goal by asking students for their opinion, answering complaints and questions and by giving courses.

A brief history
Ever since the sixties the strict authority of teachers in schools was no longer accepted by rebellious students. They wanted joint decision making about the form and content of education. This after years of top down governing. In 1984 the students reached their primary goal, the Landelijk Aktie Komittee Scholieren (LAKS) was founded.
With help from the ministry of "Education, Culture and Science", LAKS works towards an educational system in which the students are at the center, involved in the decision making process and where their voices are heard.
In 2009, LAKS celebrated its 25th anniversary!

Activities
LAKS has four main activities:

  • Final exam complaint line: LAKS organises the annual "final exam complaint line". The examinees can report their complaints about the exams taken. Thanks to this service LAKS gets an overall picture of the problems, disturbances and flaws concerning the final exams.
  • Research: frequently LAKS publishes research-reports about education and student related issues. This year we started the LAKS-Monitor, which is a nationwide inquiry of student-satisfaction with their schools. Students and schools can use the outcomes to improve the school and education. We hope to keep running this inquiry in a two-year cycle in the future. In March 2009, LAKS will publish a report about how students experience the consequences of the size of their school. This is a subject that is high on the political agenda.
  • Complaints and information center: All secondary education related questions can be asked here, whether it is about education, participation, exams, the students charter, or formal regulations.
  • Courses: every year approximately 400 students participate in the 3-day courses organised by LAKS. They learn about the rights and obligations of students and how they can improve their say and school. Also LAKS visits studentcouncils in their school to give workshops that help them improve their own and their schools functioning

Besides these activities LAKS also runs projects, like See My Skills, in which school student councils are started and trained in lower vocational education.

Also every schoolyear LAKS choses some main issues within the field of education she will explore further. In 2009-2010 these subject are the social internships, that are running in a pilot now, but will be obliged from 2011; the criteria for advancement between different educational levels within secondary education; and LAKS back to school, whereby LAKS wants to do more for student councils in highschools.

More information/how to reach us
For more information about the Dutch school system you can go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_the_Netherlands.

For more information about LAKS you can sent an e-mail to .