"The best education in the world" Dutch elementary schools were at a different level than Japan"

"The best education in the world" Dutch elementary schools were at a different level than Japan"

why don't you go there because there is a private elementary school for children who can't speak Dutch?"

"Eh! There's a school like that... but is it expensive?"

"No, the tuition is free!"

A conversation like that of a mail-order channel was the first contact between my family and a Dutch elementary school. It's been two and a half years since I moved to Holland. The same amount of time has passed since my only daughter started attending an elementary school here, but when I recall, it was a day full of fresh surprises. That should be the case, and in recent years it is said that education in the Netherlands is the best in the world.

This is a fact based on a survey by UNICEF. UNICEF, which strives to support the world's children and promote the "Children's Rights Convention," is making a "CHILD WELL-BEING IN RICH COUNTRIES: A COMPARATIVE OVERVIEW" every few years for children in developed countries. In the latest version published as of 2013 (as of December 2017), the Netherlands won first place in 3 out of 5 items (material richness, education, lifestyle habits) and advanced. Among the 29 countries and regions centered around the country, we obtained the "world's best" overall score.

So what exactly is Dutch education like? From a different perspective from UNICEF's report, the author, a guardian who keeps children in a Dutch local school, which has become "the best education in the world", would like to write several times.

In Japan, public elementary schools have more than 100,000 a year

First of all, I would like to tell you about the "free education" that has become a hot topic in books today. What Shinjiro Koizumi proposed and is attracting attention is the free use of "child education" and "childcare charges" using "child insurance." However, almost all compulsory education is free in the Netherlands.

By the way, according to the Ministry of Education's "Children's Study Expenses Survey," it costs "931,728 yen per child (including tuition, school lunch, extracurricular activities, etc.) per child when attending a private elementary school in Japan in FY2016. Is said. Even a public school elementary school, where tuition fees should be free, requires "102,000 404 yen per year" (same).

Looking at the figures again in this way, we can clearly see the burden on child-rearing families in Japan. I would like you to compare this with the actual situation in the Netherlands, taking this number into consideration.

First of all, it is necessary to explain about "compulsory education" in the Netherlands. Compulsory education in the Netherlands is 5 to 16 years old. All children aged 5 to 16 living in the Netherlands are required to attend school. This also applies to children of different nationalities, asylum-seekers and refugee children.

Many children start school at the age of 4 before compulsory education (groep1), but since they are not yet subject to compulsory education, they are in a kindergarten position without a gradebook. Parents can delay their group life until the age of five, depending on their child's growth. Compulsory education begins on the 1st day of the month after the child turns five. In other words, instead of enrolling all at once, students start attending school at their own timing.

The gradebook begins with groep3 in the third year of primary education, and after completing groep8, you will be in secondary education. It will be divided into vocational secondary education (VMBO), higher general education (HAVO), and university-prepared secondary education (VWO).

16 to 18 years old is described as "qualification obligation" (kwalificatieplicht). If you do not have a secondary education diploma (HAVO, VWO, etc.), you will continue to be obligated to receive education. Since the Netherlands has a skipping grade system, even a 16-year-old may have a diploma. In that case, it is a fluid system in which you can quit school there, but if you do not, you are still required to attend school.

When talking about Dutch education, the existence of Article 23 of the Constitution is important. Under this constitution, elementary schools in the Netherlands are guaranteed "free education," "free education policy at school," "freedom of religion and beliefs at school."

Elementary school students are obliged to take at least 7,520 hours of teaching in eight years, but it is at their discretion to decide what materials to use and how to teach them. I'd like to tell you more about this in another article).

By the way, most elementary schools are open from 8:30 am to 3:00 pm, and there are often half-day classes (until 12:00 or 12:30) only on Wednesdays. However, this time allocation can be freely decided for each school, so my child goes to elementary school until 2:15 pm every day including Wednesday.

And there are various types of Dutch elementary schools that are protected by such a free constitution. The outline is as follows.

1. Public elementary school

It is financed by the government and operated by city halls or public institutions. There are many schools that do not espouse a particular creed, but some schools offer education in line with educational methods such as the current Jenaplan, Montessori, and Steiner. Since public schools in the Netherlands do not have strict school districts, children in the distance can be admitted (although admission may not be permitted if there is no space available).

Some of my acquaintances mistakenly thought that "every Dutch elementary school is a Jenaplan system" due to the influence of Japanese TV programs, but in reality there are various educational styles.

2. Private elementary school

Private schools in the Netherlands are mainly schools based on religious education (Catholic, Islamic, etc.). Operated by an organization or foundation. According to the government statistics agency CBS, 70% of children in the Netherlands attend private schools.

However, the people who attend the school are hardly aware of whether they are "private schools". The other day, an acquaintance of Irish immigrants said, "I send my child to a Catholic elementary school," so when I said, "I'm a private school," I was surprised, "Is it free and public?"

Since both private and public are free, what is important to students and parents is "what kind of education do they offer, not what is private or public?"

3. International School

There are two types of Dutch inters: public and private. Private interns are not covered by Article 23 of the Constitution, and all tuition will be borne by the students. It is very expensive as in other countries, and it is hard to get it unless you are in the position of an expatriate with subsidies from the company. However, public international schools are less expensive than private ones because they are partially funded by the government. The tuition fee varies depending on the school, but there is also a school that costs 3800 euros a year (about 504,000 yen as of December 2017) in some regions.

Four. A Dutch tutoring school where migrant children first attend

The "school where children who do not speak Dutch" attended at the beginning of the migration of my daughter, who was mentioned at the beginning of this article, was also free (I paid only 3 euros a month). For about a year at a school where you can study math and physical education mainly in the Dutch language, you will acquire the necessary Dutch language skills here and transfer to a general school. Even children of immigrants will be able to fully adapt to the Netherlands, depending on their motivation. My house was far from school, but I could use the school bus, which is necessary for commuting, for free.

A school for non-native Dutch children. Of course it's clean and there is lunch. I am grateful to you for teaching me Dutch and Dutch politely and free of charge. Photo/Naoko Kurata

Compulsory education in the Netherlands is basically free, apart from the Inter. It only costs excursions and recreational fees at school. However, if this is also difficult, the local government may take over. Therefore, you can apply to the school you really want to go to without worrying about tuition fees.

This is a system that is very appreciated by parents, but it was also a system surprised by the author, who had a strong preconception that "private = paid, expensive".

On the contrary, I wondered how Japanese education costs would be seen by Dutch people, so I tried to tell my daughter's classmate's mother the current situation of Japan introduced on the previous page. Then, the first voice looking at that number,