North Holland has largest proportion of school drop-outs

With 4.7 percent, the province of North Holland had the highest proportion of premature school leavers in the school year 2006/’07. The proportion is considerably higher than the nationwide average of 3.9 percent.  With 4.5 percent, the number of pupils leaving school without a certificate at the level of higher general secondary education (havo), pre-university education (vwo) or secondary vocational education (mbo level 2) was also relatively high. In North and South Holland, this is mainly due to the high proportion of school drop-outs in the major Dutch cities of Amsterdam (6.6 percent), Rotterdam (6.9 percent) and The Hague (5.9 percent). In the province of Utrecht, where the fourth major city is located, the proportion of premature school leavers (4.0 percent) was close to the national average. With 3.0 percent, the lowest proportion was recorded in the province of Overijssel.

School drop-outs under the age of 23, 2006/’07*