Dutch government cuts €342 million from educational subsidies from primary to higher education

The Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science is cutting €342 million from almost forty education subsidies and regulations from primary education to higher education and research, Minister Eppo Bruins and State Secretary Mariëlle Paul announced in a letter to the Parliament on 24/10/2024.

The letter "on the implementation of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science share in the national subsidy task", says that cuts in education subsidies will increase from €131 M in 2026 to €342 M structurally from 2029.

For primary education (including the transition to further education) this amounts to around €234 M, €49 M for secondary vocational education and €59 M for higher education and research, in addition to the already known cuts of €1 Bn per year in the latter sector.

These budget cuts are part of a Dutch national savings of €1 Bn on subsidies by the government. Since July 2024, Dick Schoof serves as Prime Minister after being appointed by a right-wing coalition of the PVV, the VVD, the NSC, and the BBB.

AOb, the largest education union in the Netherlands, says: "The…