Public Schools
Public schools in the Netherlands are open to every student and every teacher. Education is not based on any religion or belief. However, there are public schools that teach based on certain educational principles. For instance, a public primary school can teach according to the rules of Montessori education and thus be a public Montessori school.
Municipalities are responsible for public education
According to Article 23 of the Constitution of freedom of education, municipalities need to ensure that there is sufficient public education.
If there are not enough public schools in the area, the municipality ensures that children receive public education in a different way, such as by arranging transport to a public school.
Private schools
In the Brainport region we have two private schools and one semi-private school:
Privat:
- DOE (Democrastisch Onderwijs Eindhoven) for children between 4 and 21 years old
- Luzac College (only secondary school)
Semi-private:
- ISE (International School Eindhoven) primary and secondary school
Denominated schools
Denominated education is rooted in religion, whereas public education is provided by the government and is therefore not affiliated with any specific religion. Although many schools offering denominated education still bear the name of their religion, their curriculum often no longer reflects this. However, some of these schools actively practice and offer education based on religious beliefs. For detailed information, please refer to the websites of the respective schools.
- Hindu
- Islamic
- Protestant-Christian
- Reformatory
- Roman Catholic
- General Special
The ‘General Special’ category includes schools with a particular educational foundation. These schools teach based on their vision of education or parenting. The ‘General Special’ category includes schools such as:
- Montessori schools
- Dalton schools
- Jenaplan schools
- etc.
Denominated school requirements
A denominated school may require teachers and students to have a religion or philosophy of life. A reformed school, for example, may require a teacher to have a reformed philosophy of life. And a Catholic school might ban headscarves at school.
Like everyone else in the Netherlands, a denominated school cannot discriminate. Also, denominated schools are not allowed to refuse or dismiss teachers because of their sexual preferences. If a school employee feels discriminated against, they can file a complaint about unequal treatment with the Netherlands Institute for Human Rights.
International schools
In the Brainport region we have two official international schools:
- ISE (International School Eindhoven): SILFO offers an International and a Dutch bilingual program in Primary School and the The International Baccalaureate (IB-programma) at secondary school. The ISE is semi-privat school which means it’s a fee-paying school.
- SALTO consists an international department at two different locations in Eindhoven; one school is called RISE and the other one is called i-St@rt.
Besides those official international schools, we have lots of schools with an international character who offer, for example, bilingual courses (TTO/VTTO), international programs, international classrooms, ISK, EOA, NT2, et cetera.
Conditions for public, denominated and international schools
The government pays for all types of education. For this, schools must meet the following conditions:
- Education must be of sufficient quality.
- There is a minimum number of students.
- Teachers must be qualified.
- The school must provide enough hours of education.
International schools
For international schools, school fees are always requested, even if the school receives government funding. The Dutch government allows international schools to charge school fees because it recognizes that Dutch funding for them is inadequate.
