Online Encyclopedia
Education in the Netherlands
Education in the Netherlands currently consists of the following official categories:
- bo - Basis Onderwijs: elementary education
- vo - Voortgezet Onderwijs: secondary education (in order of increasing theoretical level and decreasing emphasis on manual skills: vmbo, havo, vwo)
- bve - Beroepsonderwijs en Volwasseneneducatie: medium level vocational education (mbo - Middelbaar Beroeps Onderwijs and adult education
- hbo - (Hoger Beroeps Onderwijs: Bachelor level vocational education
- wo - Wetenschappelijk Onderwijs: Master level university education
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General
Education is obligatory between age 6 and 16, and partially between 16 and 18. There are public, special and private schools in the Netherlands. The first two are sponsored by the government. Public schools are also governed by a local government. 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, but also educational philosophies, e.g. Montessori Method, Dalton Plan or Jena Plan . In some instances, the board of a special school can expulse a child as a student, but this does not happen very often. On many catholic school campuses, muslim children can be found. Expulsion only happens when a child's parents indicate 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.
Elementary education
From 6 to 12 years old children must attend basisschool (elementary school; lit. "basic 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, "Preparing medium 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, "Prepriatory Scientific Education", University Prep-school) has six grades and is attended from age 12 to 18. Atheneum refers to the VWO course where neither Latin or Greek is 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 with the Gymnasium altogether and proceed with Atheneum instead. Not all schools give the classic languages during the 3 first years. Latin may only start in the 2nd year, while Greek may only start in the third. Only a VWO graduate is directly allowed to enter University.
After obtaining sufficient 'points' of the curriculum and passing a final exam, students will receive a diploma. Only after completing HBO or WO level education they will also receive an academic degree, either BSc or MSc - see Bologna process.
History of the Educational System
Compulsory education for children was inplemented 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 1969 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 (mixed), MSS (girls only) or Gymnasium - secondary education - now HAVO etc
- University - only after completing HBS/MSS/Gymnasium/HTS
Universities
See List of universities in the Netherlands