House of representatives on parent contribution.

House of representatives on parent contribution.

Ouders & Onderwijs called with a broad education coalition for the abolition of the voluntary parents contribution in primary education. On Wednesday 7 June, the House of Representatives spoke with Minister Wiersma (education) about equal opportunities in primary and secondary education. The debate was about the parents contribution, digital learning resources, and additional education. The main points in summary:

Exclusion from school trips limited

Since 2021, schools may no longer exclude children from extra activities if parents do not pay the voluntary parents contribution. An important step for parents and children, especially those with limited budget. At the same time, we see that the voluntary parents contribution leads to bigger differences between schools. At schools with many children from parents who struggle financially, fewer activities are possible.

Abolishing parents contribution

Therefore, we called to have the parents contribution reimbursed by the government. Several parties responded positively to this request. Among others, Peter Kwint (SP) and Stephan van Baarle (DENK) asked the minister to respond to the request to abolish the parents contribution. Minister Wiersma finds it difficult to estimate the effects of abolishing the parents contribution. A research report will provide more clarity this summer. Ahead of the budget debate in autumn, Minister Wiersma says he will respond about abolishing the parents contribution.

Improvement needed in schools’ communication about parents contribution

Members of parliament and the minister expressed their concern about schools causing confusion about the voluntary nature of the parents contribution. Research by the education inspectorate shows that 75% of schools do not comply with the law on communication about the voluntary parents contribution. According to the minister, the Inspectorate is monitoring this closely. Van Baarle (DENK) asked the minister to keep track of whether schools change their communication.

No reimbursement for digital learning resources

In secondary education, parents spend a lot of money on digital learning resources such as laptops. In our letter, we called for these to be reimbursed by the government. These should be reimbursed like regular schoolbooks if they are needed for education. In response to a question from Mohammed Mohandis (PvdA), Minister Wiersma said he does not intend to do this because it would cost the government 100 million euros.

Restrictions on additional education and commercial tutoring

The minister has already informed the House that he wants to introduce stricter rules for commercial agencies that offer additional education, including tutoring. The ministry will work with school partnerships to create a guideline to keep private providers outside school. If this has insufficient effect, the minister will consider making legislation about this.