In the Netherlands, it is mandatory for every child to attend school for 12 full years. Most children go to school when they turn 4, but education is not compulsory until they turn 5. Going to primary school is easy, but with all the types of schools available, it is still a difficult choice. There are two main groups of education: regular and special education
Just education
This category includes two types of schools: public and special. Schools established by the central government are called public schools. Schools that are founded by an association or foundation are special schools.
Public education
A public school is accessible to all children and does not teach from a specific religion or philosophy of life. Public schools are open to all children of any religion or belief.
Special education
Within special education, most schools are Catholic or Protestant. There are also general special schools, which are not based on a special philosophy of life, no distinction is made between the students: everyone is welcome, regardless of belief or skin color. The competent authority is not the municipality (as in public education), but a school board, which in most general-special schools consists entirely or partly of parents and the rest of expert volunteers, who do not receive any monetary compensation for this, but from idealism in education. The involvement of such a board with education is therefore great: after all, it concerns their own children! Moreover, there are no long policies; a decision can be made quickly.
There are schools that organize their education according to certain upbringing and/or teaching methods, such as Montessori, Dalton, Jenaplan and Freinet schools. These schools can be public but can also be based on a certain philosophy of life. There are also Jewish, Islamic, Hindu, humanist and free schools in the Netherlands. The free school is based on the anthroposophical spiritual science of Rudolf Steiner.
Special education
For children who cannot go to school in regular primary education, there are schools for special primary education. The schools for special education are for these children with disabilities.
These schools are divided into four clusters:
Cluster 1:
- schools for children who are blind or partially sighted
- schools for multiply handicapped blind or partially sighted children
Cluster 2:
- schools for children who are deaf
- schools for children who are hearing impaired (SH)
- schools for multiply handicapped deaf or hearing-impaired children
- schools for children with serious speech and/or language difficulties (ESM)
Cluster 3:
- schools for children with very learning difficulties (ZMLK)
- schools for multiply handicapped children with very difficult learning (low functioning)
- schools for long-term ill children with somatic problems (LZK)
- schools for children with physical disabilities (mytyl schools)
- schools for multiply handicapped children with a physical disability (tyltyl schools)
Cluster 4:
- schools for children with serious behavioral problems, developmental problems and/or psychiatric problems (ZMOK, Pedological Institutes (PI), LZK with psychiatric problems)
There are public and private schools for special primary education.