In the netherlands, children are required to attend school. This means that parents are obligated to send their children to school. There are two exceptions to this, where children can get an exemption from this compulsory education. The first exception applies if a child is unable to follow education for medical reasons. This is called exemption 5 under a (the number of the legal article in The law).<\/p>\n
The second exception is 5 under b: religious objections. This gives parents the opportunity to get an exemption from compulsory education if they have serious objections to the religion or belief of all schools in the area. This is called direction objections in the law.<\/p>\n
The group of children who do not go to school because of these direction objections is relatively small but has increased in recent years. In 2018 there were a little more than 1,000, in 2024 this number has almost doubled to more than 2,000.<\/p>\n
On april 21, 2026, the supreme court made an important ruling on the exemption based on direction objections. The supreme court ruled that this exemption no longer applies to parents who have a public school nearby.<\/p>\n
According to the supreme court, public schools are accessible to all children, regardless of faith or belief, and they provide education in an objective, critical, and neutral way. Because almost every municipality has a public school, this means in practice that exemption 5 under b no longer applies to most children.<\/p>\n
The law itself has not changed. Article 5 under b is still in The law. But the supreme court has tightened the rules for assessing exemption requests, so that an exemption is only conceivable if it can be demonstrated that the public school nearby does not provide neutral education. That will rarely be the case.<\/p>\n
In response to the ruling, several municipalities announced that from next school year they plan to no longer grant exemption 5 under b. This would mean that all children exempted on that basis would have to go back to school. Furthermore, the public prosecution service has announced that they want to enforce this. This means parents will be prosecuted if their child is not registered at a school. Not all municipalities have responded, so it is not clear everywhere what will happen now.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Compulsory education officers, the public prosecution service, municipalities, and the ministry of OCW are now discussing how to deal with children who already have an exemption 5 under b.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Note:<\/span><\/b> There is no nationwide decision yet on the handling of already granted exemptions. The state secretary of education has announced two scenarios for the long term: regulation of home education with supervision, or complete abolition of the exemption ground. Both options require a change in the law. Discussions with the house of representatives are ongoing.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"faq","selecteer_faq":"Question"},{"acf_fc_layout":"call_to_action","selecteer_call_to_action":"gerelateerde_onderwerpen_lijst","berichten_met_prioriteit":[{"ID":21352,"post_author":"17","post_date":"2020-08-05 14:23:53","post_date_gmt":"2020-08-05 12:23:53","post_content":"","post_title":"Home schooling","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"home-education","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2026-04-10 15:30:39","post_modified_gmt":"2026-04-10 13:30:39","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":20836,"guid":"https:\/\/oudersenonderwijs.nl\/home-education\/","menu_order":2,"post_type":"page","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":21726,"post_author":"0","post_date":"2020-03-02 10:21:40","post_date_gmt":"2020-03-02 09:21:40","post_content":"","post_title":"Out\u2011of\u2011school children","post_excerpt":"In Nederland zijn er kinderen met uiteenlopende en complexe problemen, die niet naar school kunnen.","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"home-sitters","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2026-04-14 09:43:15","post_modified_gmt":"2026-04-14 07:43:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":20836,"guid":"https:\/\/oudersenonderwijs.nl\/home-sitters\/","menu_order":3,"post_type":"page","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":22469,"post_author":"0","post_date":"2020-03-16 15:58:49","post_date_gmt":"2020-03-16 14:58:49","post_content":"","post_title":"10 tips for children who stay at home","post_excerpt":"There Is No School Or Childcare And The Children Will Be At Home For The Next Few Weeks. Boredom Is Out Of The Question. So How Can Children Be Kept Busy In The Most Educational Way Possible? Ouders & Onderwijs Lists A Few Tips.","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"10-tips-for-children-who-stay-at-home","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2020-03-16 15:58:49","post_modified_gmt":"2020-03-16 14:58:49","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/oudersenonderwijs.nl\/niet-gecategoriseerd\/10-tips-for-children-who-stay-at-home\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"download_pdf":false,"veelgestelde_vragen_verwijzing":{"titel":"","knop_tekst":"","url":""}},{"acf_fc_layout":"meer_informatie_links","linkjes":false}],"call_to_action":"nieuwsbrief","call_to_action_2":"geen","zoekwoorden":""},"yoast_head":"\n