Generally, schools in the Netherlands offer high-quality Dutch education. In the renowned global Pisa/OECD (2012) rankings for 15-year-old’s, the Netherlands’ education was ‘above average’ for mathematics (10th), and ranked 15th for reading and science, while all 13 state-funded Dutch universities typically score well in The Times Higher Education World University Rankings. A 2017 education ministry report, however, found that Dutch school standards varied considerably and that school choice could significantly impact a child’s future, with pupils of equal skill scoring some 10–20 percentage points less on key tests as a result of primary school management and teaching, influencing pupils to enter further education phases on lower levels and making it unlikely to catch up.
The Netherlands is among the world’s top countries for equity in education opportunities, which means anyone can open a school based on their personal beliefs, provided they meet Dutch education system standards. Additionally, private schools following particular religious or pedagogic principles have received equal state funding as public schools since 1917. The number of privately run schools more than doubles public ones in the Netherlands.
State-run schools (non-denominational) provide secular Dutch education, but they can also offer teaching around specific philosophic or pedagogic principles (Montessori, Steiner etc.). Public schools are governed by the municipal council or a public legal entity or foundation set up by the council, and are subject to conditions of the Dutch school system.
About two-thirds of all children attend special private schools or independent schools in the Netherlands. Financially they have the same status as public openbare schools, although most of them are denominational (Catholic, Protestant, Islamic, Jewish, Hindu, etc.), or follow specific philosophic principles. Private schools are governed by a board (which often consists of parents) or the foundation that set them up.
Special education in the Netherlands is subsidized and essentially free, although all schools ask for a contribution for things such as school trips. Special schools may decide themselves to ask for a set amount of parent contribution, but it is rarely higher than EUR 800 per year. Some special schools base the rate of the parent contribution on the parents’ household income.
International schools in the Netherlands provide education for global students of any nationality. Dutch International Primary Schools (DIPS) and Dutch International Secondary Schools (DISS) provide international education at reasonable fees because of subsidies from the Dutch government. They are designed for non-Dutch families living in the Netherlands for a limited time, and Dutch families returning from, or preparing for, an overseas assignment. These schools offer the International Primary Curriculum (4 to 11 years), the IGCSE (11 to 16 years), or the International Baccalaureate programmes at primary (4 to 11 years) and middle years’ level (11 to 16 years). All DISS teach the IB-Diploma programme (16 to 19 years). A new curriculum, IBCC, offers an alternative to the IB-DP in the final years (www.ibo.org/ibcc). See our list of international schools in the Netherlands.
Since 2014, more than 20 so-called ‘Steve Jobs schools’ have opened in the Netherlands, pioneered by Dutch entrepreneur Maurice de Hond. These government-funded schools provide children with iPads and educational apps, which replace everything from books to blackboards. Teachers act as ‘coaches’ to help students direct their own learning.
