New Preschoolers Are Falling Between Two Stools.

New Preschoolers Are Falling Between Two Stools.

At some primary schools, preschoolers who turned four during the school closure can no longer enroll. This is a problem for parents, for example because the contract with the childcare has already ended and extension is not always possible.

Reason

Schools say it is hard to let new preschoolers get used to school. Parents cannot go inside the school, so children have to hang up their coat themselves and are not guided to the classroom. Also, some children who turned four before the corona crisis sometimes cannot return to school. This is mainly because they are not yet subject to compulsory education.

Preschoolers with language delay

For preschoolers with a language delay, this means they cannot go to preschool or playgroup to catch up. As a result, they can only start after the summer holiday, making their delays harder to fix.

Problems for parents

“These children are falling between two stools now because they cannot attend full days at after-school care,” says Lobke Vlaming, director of Ouders & Onderwijs. She understands that schools face big problems now: education must be organized differently, and emergency care must be arranged for children of parents in crucial jobs. At the same time, she thinks it is unfair that parents now have to deal with these problems.

Response

The Ministry of Education responds that it is undesirable to delay the intake of new four-year-old pupils. A school may not refuse these children. The cabinet decided that all children will go to school part-time again, including four-year-olds starting school for the first time.

More information and personal advice

If your preschooler is eager to go to school but cannot start, we advise you to contact the school principal about this. If you do not get further, contact the school governing body responsible for the school. They are ultimately responsible. For personal advice, you can call our advice point at 088-6050101. You can find the answers to frequently asked questions in our FAQ.