Objectives and Challenges for Christian Education in the Netherlands

Wim Kuiper

President Besturenraad

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• Besturenraad: Association for Christian Education in The Netherlands

• 540 members• 2250 schools• 800,000 pupils and students

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Our members

Besturenraadmembership

Primary SchoolsSecundary SchoolsProfessional EducationUniversities

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Our organisation

• Office of 65 FTE staff• Turnover € 7.300.000 (2010 estimate)• Office in Woerden• Website www.besturenraad.nl

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Our objectives

Looking after the interests of Christian schools, colleges and universities and providing services including:

• Lobbying with government authorities • organizing networking activities• providing knowledge exchange• giving advice and support school boards

and management

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Our services

• Legal Services• Consultancy

- Governance

- Human Resources

- (Christian) Identity

- Management and Finance

- Quality Control

- Marketing• Research, training and courses

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Dutch Educational System

Characterized by ideological divisions

Revision of 1848: freedom of education

Pacification in 1917: full constitutional equality between public and independent schools

By law, the State finances public and independent schools

The right to give education of any kind

Parents are free in the choice of schools

Little influence of churches

Civil society

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Developments since the late 60-s

From a secular, depillarized to a plural postmodern society:

multi-lingual, multi-cultural, multi-ethnical, multi-religious.

Consequences for both, public and independent, schools

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Challenges for Christian education

• Segregation• Islamic schools• Non-discrimination rules• Demographics• Economization of education• Loss of identity

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Current political climate

• New government• New political landscape• Changes• Challenges

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Our agenda

• Protecting educational system• Focus on quality of education rather than

control-driven governmental approach • Legislation, e.g. on good governance, mergers

in education• Religion and education• Focus on identity• Focus on role in our cultural pluralistic society• Increasing awareness of the impact of the

European institutions on national educational policy