The MDT-proof label meeting at the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science in The Hague

The MDT-proof label meeting at the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science in The Hague

On April 20th, a meeting related to the Social Service Time (MDT) for youngsters was organized in The Hague.

During this meeting, various representatives of different organisations and municipalities were present at the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science related to the positioning of the MDT proof label and focusing on whether the proof label should be a review mechanism, a quality seal, or a platform for knowledge exchange in The Hague.

In addition to this meeting, the representatives participated in various workshops in order to discuss some elements that will influence future policy regarding MDT. As part of the ‘Eredivisie Community Champions’, European Football for Development Network (EFDN) is delighted to be involved in the future policies to further help the development young people throughout the Netherlands.

More about the ‘Eredivisie Community Champions’ project

In partnership with the Dutch Eredivisie and eight Dutch EFDN member clubs (Feyenoord Rotterdam, FC Emmen, Excelsior Rotterdam, De Graafschap, RKC Waalwijk, Sparta Rotterdam, FC Twente and Vitesse Arnhem), EFDN launched a unique football-based social inclusion project called ‘Eredivisie Community Champions’ to execute the MDT-programme of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science.

In the new Eredivisie Community Champions project, the goal is to support more than a two thousand young people in the age group of 12 to 30 years to develop important life skills and to make them more engaged in the local community of their own city. In partnership with the Eredivisie, EFDN coordinates the national events and manages the administration of the project. The participating clubs have a goal to help the young people discover their own talents, do something for others with those talents and meet new people.

All the clubs have a business club in which a large number of local companies are represented. The youngsters thus have the chance to meet with the sponsors of the clubs to secure internship positions or paid employment after their participation in the project. In this system, young people are in charge of their own development. A personal development plan is drawn up jointly and the participants have plenty of input into which workshops take place.

More about MDT

MDT is the abbreviation for ‘Maatschappelijke Diensttijd’ in Dutch which means ‘social Service Time’ and by participating in MDT, the participants will be involved in MDT programmes within their areas, based on their initiatives. Some examples, related to the MDT programme are:

• organizing an event for children in the neighbourhood
• becoming the buddy of lonely elderly people
• helping foreigners learn the Dutch language
• many other activities

Most MDT programs are for young people between the ages of 12 and 30 and last between 80 hours and 6 months in total. With some MDTs, for example, the participants work on it once a week, and with others, for example, four times a week. During MDT, the youngsters are able to learn more about themselves, about what they can do and what they like, as well as meet new people. As part of this program, the young participants get their own supervisor, follow training courses and at the end of the event, they receive a certificate.