Still 9 pct. of primary school students are "disadvantaged"

Last year 9 percent of primary school pupils were classified as "disadvantaged", a three percent drop compared to 12 percent in 2011, according to Statistics Netherlands. A pupil is considered a "disadvantaged pupil" when his or her parents or guardians have a low or very low education level. In the 2015-2016 school year nearly 134 thousand disadvantaged children were in mainstream primary schools. Four years earlier it was 186 thousand pupils. The proportion of disadvantaged pupils has been decreasing for years. According to Statistics Netherlands, this is mainly due to the increasing education level of the Dutch population. Fewer parents with primary school aged children have low or very low education. Schools get extra funding for disadvantaged pupils. This extra funding is intended to prevent language and developmental delays. The term "disadvantaged pupil" has nothing to do with the pupil's mental abilities or performance in school. The proportion of disadvantaged pupils showed the strongest decrease in the four largest cities, dropping by a third over the past years. Rotterdam has the biggest share of disadvantaged pupils among the four large cities. Amsterdam showed the biggest decrease with 37 percent.