Dutch schools adopt legally binding literacy and numeracy targets to address declining standards

Schools in northern Netherlands are implementing new mandatory learning targets for Dutch and maths, marking a major overhaul aimed at reversing recent declines in student performance amidst broader concerns over educational standards.

Schools in the north of the Netherlands are heading back after the summer break to a different classroom benchmark: legally binding targets for what pupils must learn in Dutch and maths.

According to NOS, the government wrote the revised core curriculum objectives into law in January for the first time this year. The new rules set out in more concrete terms the knowledge and skills expected in primary school and the early years of secondary education, replacing objectives that dated from 2006 and had been widely criticised as vague and outdated.

Junior education minister Judith Tielen has argued the change is necessary because basic literacy and numeracy have weakened sharply. In a letter to MPs, she said no other European country had seen learning performance fall as far, and inspectors have repeatedly found that many children still cannot read, write or handle basic maths at the expected level.

The updated Dutch and maths targets are only the first stage of a wider overhaul. The remaining subjects, including new requirements for digital literacy and citizenship, are due to be made law next summer, with schools given until 2031 to fold all of the changes into their teaching. The government says the new objectives are meant to be clearer and more practical, while also allowing schools flexibility over how they are taught.

The reform comes amid broader concern about standards in Dutch education. The 2026 State of Education report said about one in five schools in primary and secondary education received an unsatisfactory rating, and that nearly a third failed to improve within a year. Education researcher Ilja Cornelisz of Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam said ambitious targets can help, but warned that pupils will only benefit if teachers are given enough professional freedom, reliable evidence and support to deliver them in the classroom.