typically.nl

Do I know first-hand about the situation regarding primary education? No (not yet). I will have to draw from personal memory and it’s been a while. On the other hand, things have stayed pretty much the same. How does primary education work in .nl?

This level of education is called basisonderwijs (i.e. basic education). The term makes sense don’tcha think? Actually, in my days (early to mid eighties) it was still often called lagere school (i.e. lower school). We had classes 1 through 6, but kindergarten was separate. At some point a reform was done to combine lower school and kindergarten into basisonderwijs. I still remember we received a yellow suitcase to celebrate this (later turned out to be toxic, har har). In basisonderwijs the classes are named groups and range from 1 through 8.

So basic education it is; mandatory for everyone aged 5 and up. Lessons in language (Dutch and English), calculus, history, caretaking, art and what have you not. More or less the standard package in any modern country. In upper groups kids have homework too.

Cito toets

In group 8 most schools partake in the national Cito Toets which is the de facto national test for secondary education. It is not compulsory however and some schools have their own test. It measures intelligence mostly and skills for various fields. You guessed it: children and parents fear this test as it’s deemed to determine ‘omfg will someone think of the children!’ someone’s future. In reality though the school board has the most influence on the final advice.

Types of schools

You might think of .nl as a secular country, but in reality there is a huge number of religious schools. Protestant in the north and west, catholic in the south. Naturally, there are many Islamic schools in the west as well. Religion is not a huge facet of these schools though. Few lessons deal with it directly; it’s more that a school’s ethics align with its religions.

A school sans religion is called an openbare basisschool or public basic school. Every village, town and city will have at least one of these. Openbare schools take no stance against religion; they are agnostic and will try to merely show the kiddies about what’s going on with this allah/jaweh/god thing.

Very popular as well are Montessori schools, named after the Italian inventor. These are religion-agnostic (by default?) and can be found in bigger cities. We have our share of other educational systems as well such as Dalton. Lastly there is the Vrije School where it is believed kids follow their own path and should be left entirely to their own development. This latter type is often subject of discussion, as their pupils rarely fit in to any type of secondary education.

Freedom of choice

Parents are free to choose a school for their children. Well, almost. Some schools are simply at capacity; these will have a waiting list. Some schools will restrict the children based on proximity (although this is only allowed give enough capacity in the surrounding areas). Public schools must take any child unless they are full; in which case the school must direct a child to a different public school. Schools based on a religion or educational system (so-called ’special schools’) may place restrictions on the faith or lifestyle of their customers also; but only when there are enough alternatives close by.

Special schools make up two thirds of all primary schools in .nl. The generic openbare basisscholen make up the rest. However, the indigenous religions–Catholicism and Protestantism–often have very relaxed special schools, making them suitable for agnostic kids as well.

Primary school is free for parents, i.e. payed for via taxes. For a school to be free, it has to conform to national guidelines which are audited and publicised.