Education/Childcare

Arranging the education, finding a good school or day care for your children will be an important part of your relocation. After all; you want the whole family to be happy !

In case your children are very young of age or need after school care, the section of day care will give the necessary information.

Children usually attend a preschool (‘peuterschool’ or ‘peuterspeelzaal’) around the age of 3. This gives them the opportunity to interact with other children in a playful manner and become accustomed to certain school-like rules.

From the age of 4, children are permitted to attend school in the Netherlands and school is compulsory for children from the age of 5 to 18. Children are first admitted to an 8-year primary school. After completion of primary school, children make a choice for their secondary education.
In the Netherlands you are not appointed a school, so you can choose the school for your child yourself.

Both local and international education is available in the region. Especially when you plan to stay in the Netherlands for a long period, local, Dutch education can be an option to consider. In the main cities of the region, you will also find local secondary schools that offer Dutch-English bilingual education.

In the Netherlands it is not common to use school busses for transportation from home to school. Most children will walk or cycle to school. The exception are schools for children with special needs. As there are less of these schools, they tend to be located further from most homes and therefor offer transportation arranged by the school and a local taxi service. The details about registration and costs will be offered by the school.

In this section you’ll find more information about the possibilities of international and local bilingual schools (English/Dutch) in the Twente area. Also Dutch schools are mentioned in case you want your children to follow the local schooling system.