Concept

This is a campaign about the introduction of the qualification requirement. The qualification requirement means that young people must attend full-time education until their eighteenth birthday in order to get a starter’s qualification: this can either be an MBO-2 (intermediate vocational eduction), a HAVO (senior general secondary education) or a VWO (pre-university) diploma. Currently, there is completely compulsory education until the end of the school year in which the student turns 16; this is followed by 1 year of partially compulsory eduction until the end of the school year in which the student turns 17. This partially compulsory education will be replaced by the qualification requirement which will apply up to a student’s 18th birthday.

In this way, the new 1969 Compulsory Education Act covers the transition from vmbo-mbo (pre-intermediate vocational education) to the first two years of the MBO (intermediate vocational education). As a result, a lot more young people will leave school with a starter’s qualification. VMBO and MBO students are an important target group in the campaign.

Dutch TV presenter and comedian Jörgen Raymann was brought in to inform young people throughout the country about this new regulation and urge them to ‘Learn further than the end of your nose’. Jörgen’s mission was supported by an intensive multi-media campaign consisting of various TV and radio commercials and printed matter circulated through all the schools.

Additionally, together with the ViaUtrecht agency, a contest was organised and a special teaching pack developed which called on young people to come up with their own commercial. On www.jijmoetverderleren.nl, they received a briefing from Jörgen and were told how they could upload their own movie clips and ideas for a TV commercial. The winning movie will be given a professional treatment and broadcast on MTV Networks. The winner will also be rewarded with Jörgen’s much-coveted scooter.