More and more public schools becoming independent

An increasing number of public schools in the Netherlands are becoming independent. This means they receive money directly from central government instead of from the municipal authorities. At the end of March 2008, 75 percent of schools providing public education were independent. This is considerably more than at the beginning of 2007, when 50 percent of schools were independent. The trend of autonomy which started at the end of 1996, has thus continued strongly. The most popular legal form of independent schools is a foundation. Only 8 percent of primary schools and just over 6 percent of secondary schools are now financed via municipal authorities. These percentages include special and denominational schools, which have always had an autonomous status.

Percentage of education financed by municipal government