Record 9 Islamic primary schools opening in Netherlands next year
Nine new Islamic primary schools will open in the Netherlands next year, the highest number so far in one year, Trouw reported. The country is getting at least 14 new primary schools. Among them are also two Protestant Christian schools and one public school.
The schools were approved by the Ministry of Education and will receive money from the start of 2026. The number may still change. There is still time to apply, and some assessments are still in progress.
The influx of religious schools is due to a new law that makes opening a school easier. In the past, religious groups had to go through a complicated procedure to open their first school in a municipality, including proof that setting up the school would be feasible. Now they only need 200 digital expressions of support from parents with young children in the municipality.
Islamic schools have been on the rise in the Netherlands for some time now. According to research by Trouw, one in three schools that opened in the past three years was Islamic.
If all nine approved Islamic primary schools open next year, the Netherlands will have almost 100. For comparison, there are around 1,800 Protestant Christian primary schools in the country and about the same number of Catholic primary schools.
Trouw’s research also found that municipalities object more often to the arrival of Islamic schools than other schools. Municipalities objected to five of the 25 initiatives for Islamic primary schools that the Ministry of Education received. This only happened twice for the 50 initiatives for other schools.
According to the newspaper, the municipalities don’t say that they’re against Islamic education. They most often say that there are already enough schools in the municipality. That does not matter according to the law, and the objections don’t necessarily stop the school from opening. But it does start the relationship off on the wrong foot. Schools are dependent on municipalities for their housing, and municipalities are obliged to arrange this. Islamic schools tell Trouw that this often happens half-heartedly.
The municipality of Groningen, for example, said at the end of last year that it worries that the arrival of the first Islamic school in the city will lead to segregation because it could draw children from ethnic minorities away from the schools where they are now. The Ministry approved the school because it meets all legal requirements, but the school told Trouw that it still hasn’t received a location from the municipality. Groningen told Trouw that it would do its best to find a location now that it is clear that the school is coming.
The rise in religious schools is somewhat remarkable, given that the number of religious people in the Netherlands has decreased for years, before increasing slightly last year, according to Statistics Netherlands. The Islamic community in the Netherlands has been growing steadily since the war in the predominantly Muslim country of Syria started, sending many refugees fleeing to Europe for safety.
