# Public funding International Schools in Amsterdam - About the quality



## reccel (Mar 4, 2014)

Hi All,

We're planning to move to the Netherlands in upcoming months and looking for suitable school for our 4 years of daughter. What I found is that private international schools fees are too high (British, ISA etc). There are couple of public funding international schools such as Hilversum International School, Letterland in Almere etc.

In the some articles say not good things about public funding international schools. Such As : 

_"Not surprisingly, teachers that are paid amongst the lowest salaries in the EU are not incented to spend a lot of time working, and the Dutch education labor laws assist them. Dutch elementary teachers are entitled to 16 holidays, called ADV days, while their classes are up and running. In addition, there is a generous sick leave policy, which means that anyone slightly disabled, such as with arthritis or a bad back, may be entitled to work less than a full week. And, to top it off, older teachers are entitled to additional days off per week, making it possible for them to work only four days per week. 

Low pay has also resulted in a shortage of teachers, a condition far more likely in a public international school owing to the limited supply of native English teachers. Combining a shortage of substitute teachres, with the Netherlands’ generous sick leave policy, it is possible for a teacher to go out sick without a substitute, in which case the students are divided amongst other classes. If there are not enough classes in their age group, they may be sent to older or younger classes, or they may be sent home."
_

Could you someone share some real feelings and experiences about the 2 international primary schools in Hilversum?

Is the quality of the education good, bad or reasonable?

If there are pain points about them I will need to pay at least 15K per year for British School.

Thanks for your helps in advance.


----------



## reccel (Mar 4, 2014)

is there anyone who would like to share the experiences? Thanks


----------



## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

I'm not sure how many members we have here with children in school in the Netherlands. That may be why you haven't gotten any response here so far.

You might want to try contacting some of the expat groups in the country. I'm most familiar with the FAWCO related groups (FAWCO = Federation of American Women's Clubs Overseas). Sometimes the clubs publish books on the local schools. Member Clubs

There are FAWCO groups in Amsterdam, The Hague and Rotterdam - click on their name in the list for more information.
Cheers,
Bev


----------

