The fact that the parental contribution is really voluntary is not yet accepted in some schools

Not all primary and secondary schools comply with the amended law on the voluntary parental contribution. This is apparent from a study published on Wednesday by Leergeld Nederland among its local foundations. Some 15 percent of foundations are even aware of schools that still exclude children from activities if the parental contribution has not been paid.

Since August 2021, schools must allow all students to participate in extra activities, regardless of whether the voluntary parental contribution has been paid. Schools depend on this contribution because activities such as excursions, trips abroad, tutoring and bilingual education are not funded by the government.

Distressing situations

Previously, schools were allowed to exclude children if the parental contribution had not been paid, for example by offering a free alternative at school. Because this led to dire situations, an amendment to the law was passed. Schools may still ask parents for a contribution, but participation in activities should never be dependent on this and the school should communicate this clearly.

Local foundations of Leergeld, which in the past helped if parents were unable to pay the contribution, regularly report that schools continue to send reminders or threaten to exclude children if payment is not made. They emphasize that this concerns a minority of schools. It is impossible to say how many schools are involved, because the research results are difficult to generalize to an exact percentage of schools.

Also read: Whether the parents have paid or not, every student can go on a school trip

Well informed

From previous research by NRC As it turned out, secondary schools do not always communicate clearly about the amendment of the law. Leergeld’s research suggests that some schools are not aware of the details of the law. For example, they think that certain activities, such as bilingual education, are not covered.

Paul Zoontjens, emeritus professor of education law, is not surprised. “I’ve never had a school administrator look into the law.” Good information provision is very important, he says. The VO Council and the Ministry of Education say that schools have been extensively informed about the law.

According to Zoontjens, “opportunistic motives” of school administrators certainly play a role. “Pretend I don’t know the law change and see how far I can get.” He emphasizes that the law is clearly formulated, making it easy for the Education Inspectorate to punish schools that violate the law, for example with a funding sanction. The Education Inspectorate says it actively monitors whether schools comply and that “suspension and withholding of government funding” is a possibility if schools continue to break the law.

Travel to China and New York

The research also shows that schools fear that activities will no longer be possible due to the amended law. Because although the amendment to the law may lead to a lower willingness to pay among parents, no extra money has come from the government. Among other things, the Secondary Education Council already warned against a potential impoverishment of activities. Leergeld also signals that this is lurking, especially in schools in neighborhoods with a lower socio-economic position. Tutoring director Gaby van den Biggelaar says it is good that schools are made to think about the desirability of traveling to New York or China. “After all, they are not travel agents. But it would be a great shame if schools with many children from our target group could no longer organize the annual outing to the museum because there is no money for it.”