Of course, students already know this. They counted their decade at HAVO-4, going for the six. And the profession does not get more respect. Teachers have been complaining for years that the final exam topic for text interpretation does not provide insight into what a student can really do and need, to which it has been politely stated that the topic is dying.

The Dutch theme has become a monster. You learn some grammar, you learn some manners, you learn to think logically – but it’s all just a little bit and not enough of it. I propose that we divide the Dutch topic into Dutch-A and Dutch-B. In Nederlands-A you will be ready for society. You learn to read and write well. You can even use AI to present your texts well thought out as long as you can show how you arrived at the result. The Dutch language is a means of communication.

Then we have Dutch-B, here Dutch is a sublime mode of expression. There is room for linguistic acrobatics, there is room for rhetoric, and there is room for poetry. We write a song for the Eurovision Song Contest in the language of the street. Here is the language for you and the language of multitulle. And a passionate educator is given the freedom to share his or her passion. There is ample floor space.

And the statement of the final exam text? We’ll cancel that because that’s the only way to save the most beautiful theme after the date of course.