Equal opportunities in education are under pressure, according to the Inspectorate of Education. This prompts the municipality of Amsterdam to organise the hackathon Hack de Valse Start on March 3 to better identify and address the inequality in opportunities. The hackathon takes place at Calvijn College in Amsterdam Nieuw-West.
In Amsterdam, the Dutch Ministry of Education starts a series of explorations with ten municipalities, regions and provinces on the possibilities of data analysis of educational data in combination with datasets from regions and other parties.
Amsterdam Alderman Simone Kukenheim (Education), one of the organizers of the hackathon Hack de Valse Start, emphasises the importance of the cooperation between various parties:
‘Next to the for us unconventional way data will be looked at during the hackathon, especially the cooperation before and during the day is very important. Education, municipalities, datacrunchers and young people themselves are looking together at a subject that touches the future of a generation of young citizens of Amsterdam. This is a unique collaboration that is very informative for all of us and that we hope we can use more often.’
Dienst Uitvoering Onderwijs (DUO) and the Central Bureau of Statistics have made datasets available about education in Amsterdam. The municipality of Amsterdam is leading the way in this, thereby stimulating the reuse of government data for education.
During the hackathon, fifty developers, data analists and policymakers meet at the Calvijn College where they are challenged to gain insight into inequalities in education with open data. Computer Science students from the Metis Montessori Lyceum and Cartesius 2 also will participate. Amsterdam organises Hack de Valse Start in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, the Central Bureau of Statistics, Open State Foundation and Young Creators.
