Discount on education continues as usual
The cutbacks of a total of 183 million euros on education and research will continue as usual, Minister Ingrid van Engelshoven (D66) reports to the Lower House. Primary and special education, with a discount of 61 million euros, has to cope with the largest cost savings.
Picture: National government
The discount dates back to the previous cabinet term, but has always been postponed by the Rutte II cabinet. In 2018, the financial gap was temporarily resolved by windfalls.
In December, the Senate asked for the cutback to be scrapped, or at least to soften it. But that will not be the case, says Van Engelshoven today to know the House. For primary and special education, this ultimately amounts to 61 million euros per year.
The cutbacks - officially an efficiency discount - should force administrations to work smarter. Last November, Van Engelshoven skewed that 'the aim is to spare the primary process as much as possible when implementing the savings across and within all education sectors.'
The cutbacks should force administrations to work smarter
In the meantime, the ministry has no more proposals for cutbacks and is leaving this to the school boards themselves. 'Efficiency is ultimately achieved at school level and school boards are free to make their own choices. writes the minister today. 'Different school boards will implement this task in different ways.'
Below, in the table, the amounts that educational sectors must submit. Research institutions are also facing cutbacks, resulting in a total discount of 183 million.
Budget item for more efficient education (in millions of euros)
| 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | |
| Primary school | -7 | -31 | -46 | -61 | -61 |
| Secondary education | -5 | -24 | -35 | -47 | -47 |
| Secondary MBO education | -3 | -13 | -19 | -25 | -25 |
| Higher vocational education | -2 | -9 | -13 | -17 | -17 |
| Scientific education | -3 | -13 | -20 | -26 | -26 |
Source: Note of amendment of November 3, 2017.
