Private education is growing rapidly
The number of private primary schools in the Netherlands has almost doubled in three years, from about 35 in 2015 to about 60 in 2018. The number of private schools in secondary education is also increasing. The teacher shortage is mentioned as one of the causes.
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In 2015, secondary education has approximately 45 private schools. In 2018 there will be around 50. The report shows 'Additional and private education' carried out by SEO Economic Research and research agency Oberon. Education Minister Arie Slob recently sent the report to the Lower House.
Infinity College is one such private secondary school. The school started in Diemen in 2017, it opened a year later a location in Rotterdam and this year started a third branch in Utrecht. For between 13.500 and 15.000 euros per year, children do mavo, havo or vwo. The school recently advertised with the slogan "No drop-outs due to a teacher shortage!".
Group size
The private primary school Junior College in Almere is also growing fast. This is because regular education is failing, says director Jacqueline Imminga: “The link with the teacher shortage is very clear when choosing our school. The group size in particular is one thing, we hear from the parents. Classes are already substantial in mainstream education, but with the teacher shortage this is getting much worse. Suppose you already have thirty students in your class and then another ten or fifteen are added because a colleague drops out. That way you can no longer provide the education they need. ”
The school in Almere starts annually with about ten students. In September 2019 there were 21 new children and applications are still coming in. Costs: approximately 13.500 euros per year.
If you look at the total number of students, there are still few children in the Netherlands in private schools. In primary school age, the number rose from 400 pupils in 2013 to 900 pupils in 2018. A total of 1,5 million children attend primary education. For secondary education it is a bit more complicated, but also there the number of students increases *The Education Executive Agency (DUO), the body that provided the figures for the report Complementary and private education, makes a distinction between private secondary schools that are and those that are not allowed to take exams. For example, consider the Luzac College in the first group. At these 'independent examination institutions' - which increasingly offer a more extensive educational program - the number of students grew slightly between 2013 and 2018, from 1.800 to 1.900. The number of pupils in secondary schools that are not allowed to take exams rose in five years from 400 to 600. In total, 975 thousand children in the Netherlands attend secondary education. that follows private education.
Dissatisfied parents
The researchers from Oberon and SEO Economic Research have identified a growing group of parents who are dissatisfied with regular education. A third of the private schools they interviewed indicate that parents, for example, find the classes in mainstream education too large and that they see the quality of the teachers at these schools decline 'due to the growing workload'.
Other reasons for parents to choose private schools, according to the researchers, are the increasing awareness of private education and the lack of a suitable offer for, for example, students with a high IQ, dyslexia or motivation problems in mainstream education.
With us, teachers are really engaged with the children, instead of managing large numbers.
The favorable conditions in private schools attract not only parents but also teachers. Last school year, deputy director Gerwin Kets of Florencius opened a third primary school in Haarlem. In total they now have about 120 students who are taught for usually about 22.000 euros per year in classes of eight to nine children. Kets: “In our job advertisements we say: we give back your profession. And it is. With us, teachers are really working with children, instead of managing large numbers. Our salary is also always slightly above the collective labor agreement. ”
Right to exist
Still, Kets hopes that Minister of Education Slob will do something about the problems in government-funded education. “I worked in mainstream education for years. In fact, it is a shame that we have a right to exist. ”
