News item | 08-12-2025 | 17:33
5 years after the start of the corona crisis, pupils and students are doing better again. This is evident from the final evaluation of the National Education Program (NP Education) that the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW) published today. The evaluation research shows important improvements in the most important goals of NP Education, reducing learning and study delays due to corona and improving well-being among pupils and students. The temporary corona funds of €8.5 billion ran from 2021 to 2025.
The corona crisis and the closure of educational institutions during lockdowns had major consequences for pupils, students, teachers and researchers. In 2021, the then cabinet therefore decided to temporarily invest multi-year, additional money in education. The program for further education ended in 2024, and for primary and secondary education in the summer of 2025. With this temporary investment, various interventions have been deployed to support pupils and students.
The NP Education is the first program in which schools were encouraged to use proven effective interventions. Schools could choose from a menu with measures such as class reductions, instruction in small groups or the deployment of (extra) teaching assistants. The money was also used to ensure that more than 9,000 researchers with a temporary contract could still complete their research (delayed due to corona).
Koen Becking, State Secretary of OCW: “NP Education is showing great results. We fully appreciate the tireless efforts and dedication of schools, boards, teachers and other education professionals during and after the corona pandemic. While the pandemic flared up again at the start of NP Education, the schools immediately got to work in the interests of the student. The recovery of learning performance in primary education and the attention to the well-being of all students show that the hard work has not been in vain. At the same time The situation in secondary education shows that it is important that we continue to work on the basic skills of students in particular. We will therefore continue to work hard on this in the coming period, including through the Basic Skills Master Plan and the new curriculum.”
Gouke Moes, Minister of Education, Culture and Science: “The corona years have had a significant impact on our pupils and students. Your school and study years should be wonderful years, in which social life is so important and you experience major learning developments. Instead, young people now ended up in social isolation and suffered learning and study delays. With the help of the NP Education, professionals in the education sector have committed themselves to working on the well-being of students and making up for study delays. Kudos to these professionals and the pupils and students, and good to see that things are improving.”
Less learning and study delay
In secondary vocational education, higher professional education and at universities, study delays as a result of the corona pandemic decreased significantly. In 2022, 32% of students indicated that they had a study delay due to corona, now only 8%. However, a larger group of pupils and students who have made the transition from primary education to secondary education or from secondary education to further education during the pandemic have proven to be more vulnerable.
Restoring learning performance in primary education. Pupils in primary education caught up on basic skills, which means that learning performance has returned to pre-corona crisis levels. Despite all efforts, learning performance in lower secondary education has not yet recovered. Attention to basic skills therefore remains a priority for the current cabinet, which is being worked hard on Masterplan Basic Skills and the new curriculum.
Well-being restores
During the corona pandemic, the well-being of pupils and students was under pressure, but pupils and students in all educational sectors are now feeling better again. This means that students in secondary education are as satisfied with their lives as before the pandemic. Things are also improving in further education. In 2022, 23% of students still suffered from (very) poor mental well-being. In 2025 that will be 12%. Attention to well-being was also structurally embedded in education and the support structures at educational institutions also improved. In addition, after the NP Education, further work is being done to strengthen the well-being of students, for example with the MBO Working Agenda and the National Student Welfare Framework (higher education).
The evaluation research shows that closures of educational institutions had a far-reaching impact on the well-being and learning performance of pupils and students. Closure of educational institutions in the future should therefore be avoided as much as possible or limited as much as possible.