Quality of primary education

More money for education

In primary education, money is being invested in:

• the professional development of teachers, school heads and administrators;
• digital teaching materials;
• identifying and challenging talented or gifted pupils;
• more, and better, physical education;
• reducing the number of pupils having to repeat a year;
• reducing pressure of work by employing caretakers and classroom assistants;
• further improving education.

Focus on talented pupils in primary and secondary education

Dutch pupils do well in school. But some of them get bored, and don’t perform as well as they could. Schools need to challenge all their pupils to develop their talents to the full. This is why the government has introduced a special programme for talented and gifted pupils in primary and secondary education.

Combating language disadvantage

Early childhood education helps reduce language disadvantage in very young children.

Children with a language disadvantage in years 3 to 8 sometimes receive extra language lessons, usually in bridging or top-up classes.

Language and arithmetic

Children need a good grounding in language and arithmetic before starting secondary school. Benchmark levels for language and number skills describe what pupils must know at different stages in their school career.

The Learning Schools Programme

The Learning Schools Programme aims to improve education by encouraging schools to become learning organisations. Participating schools set ambitious goals, such as improved results for reading, arithmetic or technology, or support for dyslexia or difficult behaviour. Schools can also ask experts’ help to improve their organisational skills.