Expat professionals with families in Amsterdam priced out of international schools

Due to the soaring popularity of Amsterdam as an expat professional destination, schools in it’s Amstelveen district will soon have a majority of English-speaking pupils.

Local media are reporting that Dutch schools in the district will soon have few Dutch-speaking children in their classes, as the area is now overrun with expatriate families. Nine years ago, just 500 expats a year moved to Amsterdam’s metropolitan district, but numbers have now soared to around 13,000, many of whom bring their families along. According to local media coverage of the issue, incoming expat professionals are simply not earning enough to cover living expenses and international schooling for their children. The only option is to register youngsters with state -run schools.

The increasing numbers of English-speaking children are causing problems for local schools, with one head teacher saying the schools are doing their best but are struggling to cope due to finite resources.
Teaching assistants and even translators are necessary, as some children don’t even speak English and most don’t yet speak Dutch. An Amsterdam city council grant has been provided to cover a year’s intensive language classes for new arrivals, but it’s inadequate in the light of increased demand, meaning children from Japan, India an the USA are being placed in regular classes.

A recent survey indicated expat parents with children in Dutch schools were relatively happy with the quality of education provided, but other research shows 70 per cent of new expat professional arrivals get no financial assistance for international school fees of upwards of €15,000 a year. It’s no surprise, given the high cost of rental accommodation in the city, that newly-arrived expat parents have no choice but send their children to local schools.