On 12 March 2026, the PDPC organized two connected sessions about the impact of school closures: a meeting of the NWA SciCom project on school closures of vocational education (mbo) schools, and a consortium meeting of the PRESENT project, focusing on secondary school closures. Researchers, partners and stakeholders came together in Winkel van Sinkel in Utrecht to discuss recent insights and how to translate these into policy.

NWA SciCom: Vocational education (mbo) school closures

The SciCom meeting opened with presentations of the findings from earlier sessions: the participatory workshop that focused on the experience of mbo students during a pandemic, and the responsibilities of government, scientists, schools, and students to better accommodate their needs. Mbo students highlighted that the key values – autonomy, social connection, financial security, and trust in institutions – are important for future policy. During the reflection session, students created communication strategies that better connect with their worlds.

Building on these findings, the group – consisting of representatives of AJN Jeugdartsen, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education, RIVM, GGZ South Holland South, GGZ East Brabant, AOB (Education Union), VO Raad (Secondary Education Council), SWVVO3006 (Partnership Secondary Education) – discussed concrete additional measures, both for schools and for students, that could be taken in a future crisis. Several key themes emerged:

• The role of teachers changes fundamentally during a pandemic and extended school closure. The focus shifts away from subject matter and towards the social and emotional wellbeing of students. Yet there are currently no standardised tools to measure social impact or wellbeing, and no clear guidance for schools on how to manage timetables, assessments, or student support during a crisis.
• Financial uncertainty is a significant stressor for mbo students. For example, at the start of the corona pandemic there was little information on potential compensation for delay.
• Students need support not only when schools are fully closed, but also when other pandemic measures are in force. Teachers themselves need support to be able to provide that support to students – raising the question of whether pandemic preparedness training for schools and teachers is a worthwhile investment.
• Practical suggestions discussed included practising for school closures (for example, during study days), preparing hybrid and online teaching during peacetime, and developing a guidance document for school leaders.
• Participants also noted that these workshops were conducted specifically with level 3 and 4 mbo students in the Care & Wellbeing track at Albeda College – outcomes may differ for students in other programmes such as technical, hospitality, or administrative tracks.

Representatives from the education sector weren’t able to attend this session. Hence, their input wasn’t included during the meeting, but will be gathered at a later time.

PRESENT project: Secondary school closures

The afternoon session brought together the broader PRESENT consortium to discuss the status of work packages 1, 2 and 3 and to tackle the central question: How do we translate these results into policy and practice? The discussion surfaced several important questions and directions:

• When is a school closure actually necessary? Rather than treating school closures as a given, participants raised the question of whether closures can be avoided for certain groups – particularly vulnerable groups – and under what conditions. This requires moving beyond assumptions and grounding decisions in data.
• Real-time research as a tool. One of the more forward-looking suggestions was to develop real-time research capacity (building on Clarize de Korne’s transmission modelling work) so that data can be used much earlier in a pandemic – rather than only becoming available in retrospect. While current data infrastructure is too limited to implement this, the suggestion was identified as a meaningful goal.
• Beyond pandemics. The group noted that the findings have broader relevance beyond pandemic contexts: other crises such as extreme weather events or flooding could also lead to school closures, which makes the research more widely applicable.
• Connecting findings to the right stakeholders. A key strategic question is: which actors should actually do something with the PRESENT findings? Only once that is clear can we ask what they should do. Practical tools – such as a factsheet to support future decisions about school closures – were proposed.
• Supporting schools and teachers. How do you support schools in mitigating the effects of closures? How do you support teachers and mentors in taking on a different role? The socio-economic cost analysis presented in the meeting – pointing to costs running into billions of euros – was seen as an important lever for making the case for investment in pandemic preparedness, putting education on a similar footing to support provided to other sectors.
• Student perspective. Participants noted that the student perspective warrants further exploration. Students are at a life stage involving major decisions – about housing, employment, study direction – and the impact of disruptions at this moment should not be underestimated. Age differences and not just educational level deserve closer attention in future analysis.

It is important to note that while the research is generating valuable findings, more fine-tuning is needed before firm conclusions can be drawn. The next steps will focus on deepening the cost analysis, identifying vulnerable groups more precisely, and exploring how the research system can be made more responsive in real time.

The PRESENT project is a consortium research initiative studying the impact of school closures on students in the Netherlands. The NWA SciCom participatory workshops are part of the project’s co-design approach, involving mbo students directly in shaping research questions and policy recommendations.

Interested? Read more about the first and second PRESENT consortium meetings.