Education in the Netherlands

Education is obligatory in the Netherlands between the ages of 6 and 16, and partially between 16 and 18. There are public, special, and private schools. The first two are financed by the government. Public schools are also subject to local government supervision. Special schools get the same financial support as public schools, but are governed by a board. These special schools are based on some kind of ideology or religion, or educational philosophy, e.g. Montessori Method, Pestalozzi, Dalton Plan or Jena Plan. In some instances, the board of a special school can refuse to accept a child as a student, but this does not happen very often. For example, many Catholic schools have Muslim students. Refusal only happens when a child's parents indicate that they do not respect the school's moral values. Private schools do not receive governmental aid. All school types are inspected by a governmental agency called Onderwijsinspectie (Education Inspection) and can be closed by this agency.

Contents

1 Abbreviations 2 Primary education 3 Secondary education 4 History of the Educational System 5 Universities

Abbreviations

The following abbreviations are in common use in the Netherlands to describe the various official categories of educational provision:

• Primary education:
  • BO - Basis Onderwijs
• Secondary education:
  • VO - Voortgezet Onderwijs - provided in the following streams (in order of increasing theoretical level and decreasing emphasis on vocational skills):
    • VMBO - Voorbereidend Middelbaar Beroeps Onderwijs: pre-vocational secondary education
    • HAVO - Hoger Algemeen Voortgezet Onderwijs: senior general secondary education
    • VWO - Voorbereidend Wetenschappelijk Onderwijs: pre-university secondary education
• Vocational and adult education:
  • MBO - Middelbaar Beroeps Onderwijs: upper secondary vocational education
  • VAVO - Voortgezet Algemeen Volwassenenonderwijs: adult general secondary education
• Tertiary education:
  • HBO - Hoger Beroeps Onderwijs: higher professional education
  • WO - Wetenschappelijk Onderwijs: academic university education

Primary education

From 6 to 12 years old children must attend basisschool (elementary school; literally, "basis school"). This school has eight grades, called groep 1 (group 1) through groep 8. There's an obligation to attend school from group 3 at age six, but almost all children start at age four in group 1. Groups 1 and 2 used to be called kleuterschool (kindergarten), and many people still refer to these groups as such. From group 3 on, children will start to learn reading, writing and math. When a child has not advanced enough in a year, he/she has to do the whole year again - but this rarely happens. Government-sponsored elementary education is officially free of charge, but many schools ask for a "parental contribution".

Secondary education

After attending elementary education, children from 12 years old go to the middelbare school (middle school) which has four, five or six years (depending on the type). VMBO (4 years) is the least theoretical, followed by HAVO (5 years) and VWO (6 years). The first year of secondary education is called brugklas ("bridge class"), where the school determines what type of secondary education should be followed. In practice, the brugklas is often already divided between VMBO-brugklas, HAVO/VWO-brugklas and gymnasium-brugklas (gymnasium is part of the VWO). Some secondary schools offer all three types of education, others are only specialised in one or two types.

• The VMBO (Voorbereidend Middelbaar Beroepsonderwijs, "Preparatory middle level vocational education") has four grades and is attended from age 12 to 16. After obtaining a VMBO diploma children may enroll in 4th grade HAVO. A VMBO diploma gives access to the MBO-level of tertiary education.
• The HAVO (Hoger Algemeen Voortgezet Onderwijs, "Higher general secondary education") has five grades and is attended from age 12 to 17. After HAVO children may enroll 5th grade VWO. A HAVO diploma gives access to the HBO-level of tertiary education.
• The VWO (Voorbereidend Wetenschappelijk Onderwijs, "Preparatory Scientific Education", University Prep-school. It has six grades and is attended from age 12 to 18. Atheneum refers to the VWO course where neither Latin or Greek is compulsory taken; gymnasium has compulsory Latin and Greek languages until the third year, after which the student can decide to take either, or both, or quit the gymnasium altogether and proceed with atheneum instead. Not all schools give the classic languages during the 3 first years. Latin may start in either the 1st or the 2nd year, while Greek may start in second or third. Only a VWO graduate is directly allowed to enter University. HBO students may enter University only after successful completion of the first year of an HBO study.

After obtaining sufficient 'points' of the curriculum and passing a final exam, students will receive a diploma. Only after completing HBO or academic WO level education they will also receive a degree, either BA/BSc or MA/MSc (academic) - see Bologna process.

History of the Educational System

Compulsory education for children was implemented in the Netherlands in 1900. The main purpose of the law was to counter child labour. The original law only affected children aged 6 to 12, but in 1969 the law was expanded to 9 years of compulsory education, and in 1975 it became 10 years.

Before 1968 the system was different and consisted of:

• Lagere school - primary education, followed by
• ambachtschool (vocational training) or ULO/MULO (extended primary education) - now VMBO, see above
• MTS/HTS - middle and higher level vocational/technical training, similar to a polytechnic college
• HBS (Hogere Burger School - mixed), MMS (Middelbare MeisjesSchool - girls only) or Gymnasium - secondary education - now HAVO etc
• University - only after completing HBS/MMS/Gymnasium/HTS

This was all changed that year with the Wet op het Voortgezet Onderwijs (The Law on Secondary Education), better known as the Mammoetwet (the Mammothlaw). The Mammoetwet created a system similar to the current one, although there remained a distinction between LTS (later LBO) and MAVO, which became separate tracks within VMBO in the modern system.

Later educational reforms have occurred known as Basisvorming and Tweede phase.

Universities

See List of universities in the Netherlandsnl:Onderwijs in Nederland