‘Cito test puts parents with vicarious overestimation on the ground with both feet’

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In these days, eighth graders take the Cito test for the very last time. Is such a test useful? Or do you, as a parent, know what your child can do? We asked your opinion on social media and you gave it. Unsalted.

A selection of the reactions:

Désirée: “It is a test moment, as there will be many more in life. Nothing wrong with that, as long as everyone remembers that it is a snapshot and does not say everything about a child’s abilities.”

Debora: “I think it’s a nonsensical test. Enrollments for secondary education are already underway. Here, only the cito tests and the normal tests, where you have to learn at home, are not considered.”

Heidi: “Let children be children for a while, instead of putting them in boxes – with all the consequences that entails. They will get to the place where they can and want to be.”

Sandra: “They get tests throughout their school days, they can handle that ‘stress’ quite well. As long as no one tells the children that it determines their whole life, everything will be fine. It’s just a test.”

Miranda: “A Cito test in itself is not necessary for me. But I do think that the school results should be leading. Since many parents protest, it appears that they do not always know their child very well. Often because the recommended level is lower than the parents want. And parents should also realize that VMBO is no less! Always that nagging that their child should get a higher level. That often doesn’t make a child really happy if they have to walk on their toes all the time because they can barely handle the level.”

Lisette: “All that grumbling about the Cito is nonsense. The school advice is not based on it, they already received that in February and the registrations have already been in March.”

Ilona: “It is nice to know at what level your child will receive secondary education, isn’t it? Where one eats out of his nose from boredom, it can be super intensive for the other. The problem is not in the test, but in the labels that people have put on it.”

Sandra: “Cito’s are not necessary, biggest nonsense ever. They should look at the qualities of the children instead of learning language and math. It is that my child is of school age, but education harms him more than he develops. Time for different education.”

Jeanine: “I think I know what my child can do. But I don’t teach myself, so I don’t know all the results.”

Danielle: “Such a test is nonsensical. A teacher in collaboration with parents knows very well at what level a child learns. Such a test is a snapshot, which says nothing about how the child has functioned at school for six years, what children encounter mentally or how a child learns. The problem is also that people often blindly stare at the result. A child may be atheneum level, but perhaps a technical education at a lower level is much more appropriate. You don’t get that knowledge from a test.”

Anne: “I think it is logical that children should be tested. I just find the way parents react to it sometimes bizarre.”

Inez: “My daughter has good grades, but her Cito scores are generally poor, she has ADD so her concentration is low and I believe that children should not only be assessed on their Citos, but that attention should be paid to their performance throughout the school year.”

Emma: “I think there are quite a few parents with vicarious self-overestimation. Fortunately, those keys are there to keep them on the ground a bit.”