Cabinet wants more pupils with extra support in regular schools
State Secretary Tielen says a transition plan due in spring 2027 will set out the conditions and steps for regular schools to take in more children who need specialist support, and that special education will stay available for children who need it.
The cabinet is working towards regular schools taking in more children who need specialist support, and is creating the conditions for it, such as school buildings and support in and around the school. Education State Secretary Tielen set this out in answers to parliamentary questions, received on 26 October 2026. The conditions and the steps needed will be worked out in a transition plan that goes to the Tweede Kamer in spring 2027.
Many pupils who need specialist support already attend regular schools, Tielen said. The aim is for more of them to learn at a school close to home. The Inspectie van het Onderwijs, the education inspectorate, will keep supervising the quality of education, as it does now.
Special education stays
Specialist education facilities will remain available for children who need them. The cabinet wants to change how it decides whether to refer a child to special education, so that it is kept for the most vulnerable children. The criteria for access and the funding will be worked out over the coming years as the plan is carried out.
Representatives of parents, pupils, teachers and support staff will be involved in drawing up and carrying out the plan.
How many specialist facilities there will be, and how they are organised, will also be decided in the coming years, with attention to keeping the capacity, housing and expertise needed. Support at another location is in principle temporary and aimed at a return to the child's own school and class. For some children, Tielen said, specialist education can remain the place for their whole school career.
The effects on school buildings will be mapped in the first phase of the transition.
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Parliamentary questions are written questions that Members of the Dutch House of Representatives (Tweede Kamer) put to a minister or state secretary about government policy or a specific matter. The minister must answer them in writing, and the questions and answers are published, so they are a common way for MPs to get official information and hold the government to account. Answers are often the first official statement on a new policy issue.