Primary schools have a far-reaching responsibility to ensure that their students can go to after-school care. That is the purport of a law that was introduced in 2007, but has quickly fallen into oblivion. Five authoritative educational lawyers confirm this explanation against NRC† They point out that enforcement of this law can have major consequences.
If parents are unable to place their children in after-school care (BSO), for example due to waiting lists, the school board must look for alternatives. Such as a second provider of childcare or a collaboration with childminders. If a school does not do this, parents can go to court. The PO Council, the umbrella organization for school boards, says that it was ‘not sharp’ about this legal interpretation.
This responsibility is especially relevant now that many childcare centers are full. Two out of three BSO organizations have a waiting list, according to a survey by the sector of employer and employee organizations in the sector last autumn. This share is increasing rapidly due to staff shortages. In February it was still 43 percent.
This is especially problematic for working parents. They are forced to stay at home or put the children elsewhere.
Now it appears that schools have to step in. The 2007 law was intended to make it easier for parents to combine work and care. Parents who ‘desire’ this must be able to accommodate their children all day long at school and then after school care, the law states.
At the request of parents, the school must arrange this connecting care, for example by reserving places at an after-school care. According to education lawyer Wilco Brussee, it is even an individual ‘enforceable right’. “Every parent should be able to realize a place for his or her child.”
Other experts opt for a less far-reaching interpretation, such as Professor of Education Law Renée van Schoonhoven (Free University). “The law does not literally state that parents are entitled to a place in after-school care.” But she also expects this law to require more effort from school boards.
With waiting lists, a school board cannot guarantee a place for every child, says educational lawyer and adviser Pieter Huisman. “But the board must overcome that as much as possible.” For example, by ‘making as many agreements as possible’ with various out-of-school care organisations.
The lawyers agree that many school boards will have to do more than they are used to. “The effort is minimal at many schools,” says Rianne Tigelaar, lawyer at the interest group Parents & Education. “Some schools say: we have agreements with one or two BSO parties. That is not enough.”
Also read the background story: No place at the shelter? Parents can enforce it, according to forgotten law
A version of this article also appeared in NRC on the morning of February 24, 2022