The number of students in Groningen and Drenthe whose parents do not send them to school because of their way of thinking or faith is increasing. However, the exact reason remains unclear.
The Northern municipalities want action from the minister. According to them, the law needs to be amended. “We want to know whether a child is receiving a good education.”
Oldambt is one of the municipalities where the problem occurs. Education councilor Jurrie Nieboer wants the education minister to intervene. “The law needs to be changed,” he says. He has his fellow administrators in the Northern municipalities behind him.
The main concern is that it is unclear whether this group of children receives good quality alternative education. The attendance officer often cannot assess this, because he or she may be refused entry.
An investigation agency engaged by the municipality of Oldambt was also unable to uncover this. “They are simply not allowed to look behind the front door to see what is going on in the house. That is why we do not know whether alternative education is provided in any case and, if so, whether the children are developing and in what way,” says Nieboer.
Partly at the initiative of Oldambt, an urgent letter was sent to the Minister of Education, Culture and Science in the Northern Netherlands. “The minister shares our concern and has started a process to make changes to the law, but it is not making progress.”
Be accountable
Hanke Korpershoek, adjunct professor of educational sciences at the RuG, believes that parents should be more transparent and provide insight into teaching methods and their child’s development. According to her, it is clear that the law must be amended for this. “The education officer must be given the opportunity to carry out minimal monitoring. Why does a teacher at a school have to be accountable to parents and the school board, while a parent who has requested an exemption does not have to do so?”
Korpershoek does not want to compromise on homeschooling, provided it can be verified. “It’s great that in the Netherlands you have the freedom to educate your child at home. We must cherish that, but someone must be able to check whether the child is making progress and whether the teaching materials are in order. It is also important whether the child is taught in a safe environment.”
It is especially in recent years that parents have exercised the right to provide education themselves, formally known as exemption under 5B. “Education as an institution is under pressure. In the past, you went to a Christian school or attended public education as a child. Teachers are also more often distrusted these days.”
Korpershoek advises municipalities where possible to continue to talk to parents who homeschool their child. “This can also be done through neighborhood teams or by appointing a mediator,” she believes.
Looking for loopholes in the law
Ingrado also notes that exemption under 5 B is increasing. This umbrella organization, to which municipal education officials are also affiliated, has been lobbying the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science for a long time to amend the Education Act. Since 1968 it has not been adjusted and is no longer adequate.
It cannot be clarified why there is an increasing trend, especially in the Northern provinces. “The impression is that parents often look for loopholes in the law,” according to Ingrado spokesperson Anne Voskamp. “It often concerns families from large cities who exchange the Randstad for the countryside. In big cities the range of education available is many times greater than in the countryside. In rural areas, parents can argue that there is no suitable education for their child in the area.”
What could also be a reason is that parents do not recognize the government. “They basically feel stateless. All in all, we have not properly regulated the regulations regarding home education in the Netherlands. We therefore continue to put pressure on the ministry,” says Voskamp.
Don’t ban homeschooling
It is not the intention of Nieboer and his fellow administrators in the Northern Netherlands to ban homeschooling. “But the children must receive education and this must be able to be tested by the education inspectorate. This mainly concerns the quality of education.”
Nieboer says he does not make any value judgments about parents or nurses who do not send their child or children to regular education. “But every child has the right to excellent education that can be monitored.” Nieboer expresses his concern in the recently drawn up annual report Compulsory Education Municipality of Oldambt school year 2022-2023.
He explains that the municipality has made a lot of effort to get in touch with these families. “Where possible, they have received a letter from the municipality asking them to participate in the study. No responses were received. The research agency then tried to contact families through organizations involved in homeschooling. That didn’t work out either.”
Compulsory education officers feel unsafe
In the last months of 2023, Ingrado received more and more signals from school attendance officers who feel unsafe as a result of intimidation. This always involved procedures surrounding obtaining an exemption 5 under B, in which parents sometimes sought support.
According to Ingrado, parents have every right to challenge government decisions or actions with which they disagree. But according to Ingrado, this should never be accompanied by transgressive behavior.
Councilor Raymond Wanders of the municipality of Emmen states in writing that in Emmen, as in many other municipalities in the Northern Netherlands, an increase in the number of exemptions from compulsory education on the basis of direction objections has been observed. “It seems like a social trend. This means that a growing group of children do not go to school. There is no insight into whether these children are receiving education and under current legislation there is no legal framework to monitor the quality of home education.”
“We have asked the minister to speed up the bill in which the quality of home education and its supervision by the attendance officer and the education inspectorate are guaranteed.”
Exemption, what about that?
An exemption under 5 B is complicated from a municipality’s point of view. This is mainly because there is little to no insight into the development of these children. They do not go to school, where teachers and healthcare professionals have insight into the development and well-being of children. In addition, it is unclear whether the children receive some form of (home) education. After all, the Compulsory Education Act does not impose an obligation on parents to provide alternative education. Compulsory education officials try to approach parents who submit a notification, but contact is sometimes difficult or often fails to occur. The families are within their rights to do so. Parents submit a notification, do not have to come to an interview, do not have to explain what their (exact) beliefs are and do not have to indicate whether they provide alternative (home) education.