Netherlands - Country Background Information
- Describing the forms of education in the country
- Identifying an ‘inclusive setting’ in the country
- What an ‘official decision of SEN’ means in the country
- What ‘out-of-education’ means in the country
The EASIE data collection covers all recognised forms of education at ISCED levels 02, 1, 2 and 3.
This means any type of education organised by or approved by any recognised educational provider in the public or private sector: municipality, local or regional educational provider from the public or private sector, working with/for ministries responsible for education and areas such as health, social, welfare, labour, justice, etc.
5–16/18 years.
The Compulsory Education Act (1969) sets down the obligation to attend school. Every child must attend school full time from the first school day of the month following their fifth birthday; however, nearly all children attend school from the age of four. Children must attend school full time for 12 full school years and, in any event, until the end of the school year in which they turn sixteen.
Since August 2007, the obligation to continue education in order to obtain a basic qualification is applicable to young people under the age of 18, who have finished compulsory education but have not yet obtained a basic qualification certificate. They have to achieve at least a diploma at general secondary (HAVO), pre-university (VWO) or vocational (MBO-2) level.
What are the typical age ranges for the ISCED levels?
| ISCED LEVEL 02 | ISCED LEVEL 1 | ISCED LEVEL 2 | ISCED LEVEL 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4-5 | 6-12 | 13-16 | 17-18 |
Private schools can be based on a particular denomination, such as Catholicism, Protestantism, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism and Anthroposophy or educational models, such as Montessori, Dalton, Freinet or Jenaplan. Public and private may also be based on combinations of denominational and educational ideas (e.g. Catholic Montessori school or public Dalton school). Although most private schools are 100% funded by the government, a small number of schools are privately funded. Exact data on the latter category is not available, because the private, non-government-funded sector is not obliged to register data on pupils. Therefore, an estimation of pupils in privately-funded schools is included.
In the EASIE data collection, an inclusive setting is operationally defined as:
A recognised form of education where the child/learner follows education in mainstream classes alongside their peers for the largest part – 80% or more – of the school week.
The 80% time placement benchmark clearly indicates that a child/learner is educated in a mainstream class for the majority of their school week. At the same time, it acknowledges possibilities for small group or one-to-one withdrawal for limited periods of time (i.e. 20% or one day a week).
Very few participating countries can provide exact data on children/learners spending 80% of their time in a mainstream group/class. However, all countries can apply one of three agreed proxies that provide an approximation to this benchmark:
- Placement in a mainstream class implies over 80% or more
- Data is available on the number of hours of support allocated to a child/learner
- Placement in a mainstream class implies over 50% or more.
In the EASIE data collection, the agreed operational definition is:
An official decision leads to a child/learner being recognised as eligible for additional educational support to meet their learning needs.
Countries may have different types of official decision, but for all official decisions:
- There has been some form of educational assessment procedure involving different people. This procedure may involve the child/learner, parents, school-based team members, as well as professionals from multi-disciplinary teams from outside the child’s/learner’s (pre-)school.
- There is some form of legal document (plan/programme, etc.) that describes the support the child/learner is eligible to receive, which is used as the basis for decision-making.
- There is some form of regular review process of the child/learner’s needs, progress and support.
An official decision of SEN in the Netherlands means a declaration of admissibility to special education.
The allocation of resources for extra support in mainstream schools is organised on a regional level, where school alliances can set the criteria and procedures. Therefore, the allocation of extra support is not an ‘official decision’.
Since 2014, the regional school alliances have their own educational assessment procedures (instead of a nationwide procedure). The outcomes of the assessment procedure can lead to a declaration of admissibility to special education. This decision is made by a multi-disciplinary team. It is required by law that two experts must be involved in the assessment procedure. One of the experts has to be a special education generalist or a psychologist, the other expert is chosen by the school or the regional school alliance.
The assessment procedure provides an individual development plan, which describes the educational objectives for that pupil. It indicates the level the pupil can achieve and the support that they will need to achieve it. The school discusses with parents the educational needs, development goals and action plan that are described in the development plan.
The declaration of admissibility is valid for at least a year. The regional school alliance sets the criteria for duration and review of the declaration.
Within the EASIE data collection, specific questions examine children/learners who are out of education. This means children/learners who should, by law, be in some form of recognised education, but who are out of any form of recognised education. A recognised form of education is any type of education organised by or approved by any recognised educational provider in the public or private sector.
Pupils who are not registered in any form of recognised education (from the age of 5).
Pupils who are not registered in any form of recognised education (from the age of 5), but are obliged to go to school. The national data that is collected about the number of pupils who are out-of-education is not available for the different ISCED levels, and is therefore not provided in the EASIE data for the Netherlands.