Education Procurement in The Netherlands
Numbers
More information| Number of schools K-12 | Number of teachers K-12 | Number of students K-12 | Number of computers per student K-12 |
| 7.389[1] | 245.547[2] | 2.477.109[1] | 0,68[3] |
Sources:
[1] Statistics Netherlands
[2] Eurostat, Education and Training statistics
[3] OECD, PISA 2012
Legislation of Education
More informationThe Education Professions Act (2006) (Wet op de beroepen in het onderwijs) regulates standards of competence for both teachers and other people working in education-related jobs in primary education and in secondary and adult and vocational education.
As from 1 August 1998 primary education is provided by two acts, the Primary Education Act (Wet op Primair Onderwijs) and the Expertise Centres Act (Wet op de Expertisecentra). The WPO and the WEC describe the objectives of primary education (attainment targets) and prescribes how teaching should be structured and organised (content, quality, school plan, funding, school prospectus, complaints procedure). It also lays down rules governing the special needs support structure (special needs plan, consortia) and the position of staff, parents and pupils.
The Secondary Education Act (WVO, 1968; revised in 1998) (Wet op het voortgezet onderwijs) sets the structure of secondary learning into three streams: pre-university education (WVO); senior general secondary education and pre-vocational secondary education (HAVO and VMBO); pre-vocational education (VBO), including learning support (LWOO).
The Good Education and Good Governance Act (2010) (Wet Goed onderwijs en goed bestuur) enables the government to cut off funding to individual primary or secondary schools in the interests of their pupils if the level of education they provide is consistently poor. The Act formulates minimum quality requirements for all schools. In the case of mismanagement by the board, schools may receive a warning.
Organisations
More information| Organization responsible for education | Role of the organization | Website |
| Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW) |
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www.government.nl/ ministries/ministry-of- education-culture-and-science |
| Inspectorate of Education | Monitors the quality in educational institutions | https://english.onderw ijsinspectie.nl |
| Statistics Netherlands (Central Bureau of Statistics) | Collects and analyses data on education | www.cbs.nl/en-gb |
| Dutch Education Council | Includes leading academics, administrators and other experts on education being an independent advisory body | |
| Ministries | Responsible for the main areas of the country address specific education issues | |
| Education Co-operative | Includes the five leading teachers’ organisations and supports the quality of the teaching profession | |
| Municipalities | Have responsibilities regarding particular areas in connection with compulsory schools, such as infrastructure.
Under the Local Education Agenda cooperation is mandated between the municipalities and other government levels. |
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| Lower secondary schools | Make the majority of the decisions related to their schools. | |
| School boards | Represent the legal authority over one or more schools being responsible for the organisation of the schools (management of personnel and resources, an organisation of instructions and school self-evaluation and quality monitoring). The members of the school boards are very differently, they can include volunteers (e.g. parents) and/or professional managers.
The leadership of the schools can be shared between many officials in larger schools. In secondary schools, teachers are also involved in the management of schools. |
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| There are many stakeholder organisations: unions of teachers, unions of school leaders, umbrella organisations of school boards. Other professional institutes and research institutes also take part in forming the education policy, e.g. the National General Institute for Curriculum
Development, the Central Institute for Test Development, the Netherlands’ School Leaders Academy, school support agencies, etc. |
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| Source: OECD: Education Policy Outlook, 2014 European Commission / EACEA National Policies Platform / Eurydice / Netherlands Overview: https://eacea.ec.europa.eu/national-policies/eurydice/content/netherlands_en |
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Funding of education
More information| Type of schools | Source of funds |
| For public and private schools equal funding is allocated from the central budget on the basis of the number of students enrolled. Those private schools cannot apply for public subsidies that are financed from private sources 100%. Schools are funded from public money only if they meet certain requirements.
All the schools can get additional money for specific educational purposes, such as for students at risk of dropping out of education. |
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| Primary and secondary schools | Receive block grants from municipalities on the basis of the number of students attending the particular school (these block grants are
provided by the state to the municipalities that later give it to the schools). School boards can decide on how to use these grants. The block grants are for the staffing and operating costs of the schools. |
| Schools with children from a disadvantaged background and with special needs | Can apply for additional funding |
| Secondary vocational schools | Block grants are received directly from the government and students pay tuition fees. 80% of the number of block grants are determined on the basis of the number of students enrolled, the rest is determined on the basis of the number of certificates awarded. |
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Source: OECD: Education Policy Outlook, 2014 European Commission / EACEA National Policies Platform / Eurydice / Netherlands Overview: https://eacea.ec.europa.eu/national-policies/eurydice/content/netherlands_en |
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Public expenditure on education ISCED (2011) (million EUR)
More information| Year | Primary education | Lower secondary education | Upper secondary education | Total |
| 2012 | 8397,2 | 7653,2 | 6665,2 | 22715,6 |
| 2013 | 8571,1 | 8049,8 | 6804,8 | 23425,7 |
| 2014 | 8234,7 | 7854,7 | 6911,4 | 23000,8 |
| 2015 | 8246,3 | 8067,4 | 7028,3 | 23342,1 |
| 2016 | 8236,6 | 8250,3 | 7465,3 | 23952,2 |
| Source: Eurostat (online data codes: educ_uoe_fine01) |
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Expenditure on educational institutions ISCED (2011) (Million EUR)
More information| Year | Expenditure | Primary education | Lower secondary education | Upper secondary education | Total |
| 2012 | Current expenditure | 7 605,9 | 7 036,6 | 7 120,4 | 21 762,9 |
| Capital expenditure | 1 007,0 | 1 100,4 | 822,3 | 2 929,7 | |
| Total | 8 612,8 | 8 137,0 | 7 942,8 | 24 692,6 | |
| Share of capital expenditure (%) | 11,7 | 13,5 | 10,4 | 11,9 | |
| 2013 | Current expenditure | 7 411,6 | 7 058,1 | 6 850,3 | 21 320,0 |
| Capital expenditure | 995,3 | 1 052,4 | 683,1 | 2 730,8 | |
| Total | 8 406,9 | 8 110,5 | 7 533,4 | 24 050,8 | |
| Share of capital expenditure (%) | 11,8 | 13,0 | 9,1 | 11,4 | |
| 2014 | Current expenditure | 7 315,0 | 7 268,3 | 6 899,6 | 21 482,9 |
| Capital expenditure | 1 029,7 | 912,8 | 684,8 | 2 627,3 | |
| Total | 8 344,7 | 8 181,1 | 7 584,4 | 24 110,2 | |
| Share of capital expenditure (%) | 12,3 | 11,2 | 9,0 | 10,9 | |
| 2015
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Current expenditure | 7 311,1 | 7 335,9 | 7 163,0 | 21 810,0 |
| Capital expenditure | 942,6 | 924,8 | 687,5 | 2 554,9 | |
| Total | 8 253,7 | 8 260,7 | 7 850,5 | 24 634,9 | |
| Share of capital expenditure (%) | 11,4 | 11,2 | 8,8 | 10,5 | |
| 2016 | Current expenditure | 7 342,7 | 7 592,0 | 7 282,6 | 22 217,3 |
| Capital expenditure | 873,6 | 914,1 | 706,7 | 2 494,4 | |
| Total | 8 216,3 | 8 506,1 | 7 989,3 | 24 711,7 | |
| Share of capital expenditure (%) | 10,6 | 10,7 | 8,8 | 10,1 | |
| Source: Eurostat (online data code: educ_uoe_fini01) |
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Investment plan for education / ICT in education
More information| Year | Amount in (€) | Main pillars of investments | Share of pillars (%) |
| 2020-25 | €48m per year | Schools with declining numbers of pupils | n/a |
| 2019 | €231m additional funding | Pre-vocational secondary education (engineering and technology) | n/a |
Source:
https://eacea.ec.europa.eu/national-policies/eurydice/content/national-reforms-school-education-47_en
Procurement Procedure
More informationPublic procurement system is highly decentralized. Contracting authorities are responsible for their own procurement processes regardless of their level of authority.
Ministry of Economic Affairs: the only authority regarding public procurement. Its functions:
- to draft procurement legislation
- to interface with the European Union
- to control the compliance with the law
Public Procurement Expertise Centre (PIANOo): belongs to the Ministry of Economic Affairs. It’s is a network of 3 500 Dutch public procurement experts and tendering professionals who share their best practices and experiences.
- hosts an online forum
- organizes conferences, training sessions, and meetings
- responsible for the operation of the TenderNed e-procurement platform.
Commission of Public Procurement Experts: a mediator body which belongs to the organization of the Ministry of Economic Affairs. It has the right to formulate non-binding advice how to resolve claims in case of disagreement between the economic actor and the contracting authority.
Claims are also handled by the Civil Courts, in which decisions can be appealed to the Court of Appeal and ultimately to the Supreme Court.
Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM):
- reviews the procedures in order to reveal possible unfair competition
- has the right to impose fines
- at the level of contracting authorities reviews of economic efficiency and legal compliance are carried out on a yearly basis.
Source:
European Commission / EACEA National Policies Platform / Eurydice / Netherlands Overview:
https://eacea.ec.europa.eu/national-policies/eurydice/content/netherlands_en
Public procurement – Study on administrative capacity in the EU The Netherlands Country Profile:
https://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/sources/policy/how/improving-investment/public-procurement/study/country_profile/nl.pdf
LEA contact
More informationAshleigh McLennan
ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability
ashleigh.mclennan@iclei.org