The Dutch Education System

Timeline of education in the Netherlands:

- Primary education from ages 4 (compulsory from 5) to 12
- Secondary education up to ages 17-19 (compulsory until 18) in three main branches
o VMBO (preparatory middle vocational training), 4 years
o HAVO (higher general education), 5 years
o VWO (preparatory scientific education), 6 years
- “Sonderschulen” / special schools for both primary and secondary education
(van de Veen, 2017, p.507)

While education in the Netherlands is still the responsibility of the State most schools are
under private Administration, founded by private parties. The state still funds all private
schools and has the right to enforce quality regulations to ensure a standard of education
(ibid., p.500). To do so government institutions regularly perform checks to determine if the
quality is met (ibid., p.504)
Schools are financed through “Lump-Sum-Financing”, any singular school may receive a
certain amount of money for one year, the use of which is left in the hands of the school. The
exact amount is calculated based on the number of students, who attended the previous year
(ibid., p.505).
Most schools belong the “four pillars”: Protestant, Catholic, Neutral or Public schools (ibid.,
p.500).
Schools often have an internal “middle management”, which spreads the responsibility of the
principle to multiple people. (Ibid., p.504)

The freedom of education is regulated in article 23 of the Constitution:

Education shall be the constant concern of the Government;
All persons shall be free to provide education, without prejudice to the authorities' right of
supervision.
People have the right to found schools and to provide teaching based on religious, ideological
or educational beliefs. As a result there are both publicly run and privately run schools in the
Netherlands. (Eurydice, 2023)
___________________________________________________________________________
van de Veen, Bob (2017): Niederlande. In: Hans Döbert, Wolfgang Hörner, Botho von Kopp und Lutz R. Reuter (Hg.): Die
Bildungssysteme Europas. 4. vollständig überarbeitete und erweiterte Auflage. Baltmannsweiler: Schneider Verlag

Eurydice Network (2023): Netherlands. European Commission (National Education Systems). Online verfügbar unter
https://eurydice.eacea.ec.europa.eu/national-education-systems/netherlands/overview