# Some city schools get far less disadvantage funding from January

> The education ministry is spreading its money for tackling educational disadvantage over more primary schools, so schools in Utrecht, The Hague and other cities get far less while others get more.

Society · published 2026-10-20 14:44 · https://nlnow.nl/a/some-city-schools-lose-funding-for-disadvantaged-pupils-from-january/

From January, primary schools in Utrecht, The Hague, Eindhoven, Tilburg and Amsterdam, among others, will receive considerably less money to combat educational disadvantage. Schools in Nissewaard, Capelle aan den IJssel, Zoetermeer, Groningen and Heerlen, among others, will receive more.

The ministry divides the money using a model devised by Statistics Netherlands (CBS), which was recently recalibrated. Besides family origin and parents' education, it now weighs family assets, the neighbourhood a child lives in and whether the child grows up in a single-parent family. More schools now qualify for the money, which changes how it is divided.

Next year school boards will get about €470m from the ministry to combat educational disadvantage and pass on to primary schools. Municipalities will get a further €650m or more, from which they pay subsidies for pre-school education, summer schools and extended school days.

## Background

- **CBS (Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek)**: Statistics Netherlands, the independent government body that produces the official statistics on the Dutch economy and society.

From NLnow, news from the Netherlands in English. How stories are made: https://nlnow.nl/about/