BIJ1 wants equal opportunities for all students in the educational system. Students’ opportunities should not depend on the colour of their skin, their gender and/or sexual identity, whether they have a disability, or on their religion. Nor should the income or background of their parents play a role. If you want to be educated at a later age, that should be possible, regardless of your own income. Furthermore, education must be fully accessible to students with disabilities. This also applies to regular education, if students with disabilities want to go there.

In order to create equal opportunities for all students, we do not want to economise, but rather to invest. We will actively combat segregation of students and discrimination. By investing, we will ensure quality education and strong, diverse and democratic educational institutions with good intake and progression. Teachers and scientists will receive the (financial) appreciation they deserve.

Quality education that fits means education in which students can develop and grow as human beings. Every type of education must offer quality education, from pre-school to university. The curriculum must be flexible (7) so that all students receive education that suits them and where they can develop talents and skills such as creativity, empathy and cooperation. The various perspectives and experiences of identity, marginalisation and history in the Netherlands should also be part of the curriculum. BIJ1 considers it important to involve children and young people in contemporary social issues and citizenship. Social studies will become a compulsory subject throughout the entire VO. Citizenship education will also be made compulsory outside secondary vocational education (mbo). Digital resources (8) will be used to (improve) the curriculum and to combat inequality of opportunity. And to combat illiteracy – which often occurs at a young age – access to public libraries for students must be stimulated.

We want to strengthen the educational institutions in order to give them more opportunities for guiding pupils and students. The mbo (9) must be valued more. There has to be more diversity and democracy in higher education (hbo and universities) (10). We want to stimulate collaboration between educational institutions instead of competition. Educational institutions must also ensure that students or students can enter at the right level. That level must not be set at too young an age and under-consultation must be combated. If a pupil or student wants to transfer or move on to another type of education, this must be done smoothly.

There must be renewed appreciation for those who work in education. We want to solve the shortage of teachers (11). Scientists need to be able to do good research and teachers need to be able to teach well. Their work pressure must be reduced and their salaries increased.

BIJ1 has the following solutions for inclusive, accessible and high-quality education.

1. We’re going to look for alternatives to the moments when a student is selected and tested when it comes to the level of secondary education. Schools with broad bridging classes will be encouraged – provided there are enough opportunities within those bridging classes to support different ways of learning.
2. Advice for secondary education will be based on the agreement between 3 parties: teacher, parent(s)/carer(s) and student.
3. All teachers in the Netherlands will receive training on giving school advice in the right way and creating awareness of under-advising.
4. There will be more resources for schools to share knowledge with other schools about creating equal opportunities.
5. Schools must become fully accessible to students with disabilities. Initiatives will be introduced throughout the country to integrate students with disabilities into mainstream education. An extra budget will be made available for teachers to support students with disabilities.
6. We provide more accessible opportunities to assist and support those who are low literate where necessary.
7. Wide school communities with different school types (vmbo, havo, vwo) and initiatives to start them will be encouraged. In the long term, we will be working towards abolishing individual segregation and collective segregation at the level.
8. Diplomas in secondary education must be stackable without additional requirements.
9. Pre-school becomes free for all children.
10. The voluntary parental contribution in primary and secondary education will be abolished.
11. Access to tutoring should not depend on the economic position of parents. Free tutoring should be offered to children whose parents are below a certain income threshold.
12. Libraries will receive more support in tackling illiteracy among children and young people. There must be easy access for every citizen to a public library.
13. Companies that discriminate in their selection of trainees will be fined and excluded from public procurement and subsidies.
14. The method of enrolment will be set up in such a way that schools are accessible to everyone. There will be an end to the postcode policy and very early enrolment as a means of selection by schools.

1. Schools will be given a statutory task to promote and organise intercultural knowledge between students.
2. The government will stimulate a diverse perspective in the curriculum and teaching materials that is free of harmful stereotyping and eurocentrism.
3. The colonial history and migration history of the Netherlands will have a central place in the curriculum, along with the background and political-economic context of refugees and (labour) migrants. More attention will also be paid to the consequences of this history for future generations born in the Netherlands.
4. There will be training courses for teachers on the historical awareness of colonial history and the migration history of the Dutch.
5. The curriculum will pay ample and high-quality attention to sexuality, consent and diversity in the area of gender and sexual orientation.
6. Training will be provided to make teachers aware of their (unconscious) prejudices, attitudes and expectations, and protocols will be developed to combat racism, sexism and discrimination based on sexual orientation.
7. There will be a guarantee that all students will have access to laptops and WiFi hotspots for home use. Each school will receive a designated budget for this purpose.

The government will discourage schools from collaborating with platforms of companies that have surveillance as a business model, in order to protect students’ privacy.

1. Teachers’ working conditions will be improved, both in terms of pay and workload.
2. The pay gap between primary and secondary education will be closed, so that all teachers will earn the same.
3. Classes will be smaller and the administrative burden will be reduced, in order to reduce the workload and to create more preparation time.
4. Pabo’s should pay more attention to the workload in the field of education (caused by society, school board and parents) and how to deal with it.

1. Tuition fees will be abolished: secondary vocational education and higher education will be free of charge. The basic grant will be reintroduced and will be income-dependent, based on the income of the parents/carers and that of the student himself/herself.
2. The switching programmes for students between MBO and HBO will be improved.
3. We work on accessible education by establishing the right to study at home. There will also be more (independent) support so that people with disabilities can study better according to their own wishes, for example by facilitating online lectures.
4. MBO will be strengthened and broadened: teachers will have more room to grow within their function, the government will collaborate with the business community to create more internships, and there will be more small-scale vocational schools.
5. Access to vocational and scientific education will be facilitated, for example by removing barriers for working people. Options for part-time training will become compulsory, age limits will be banned.
6. The amount of money received by educational institutions will no longer depend on the percentage of graduates.
7. Every form of vocational and higher education will have a school psychologist to whom students with mental problems can turn.

1. The efficiency discount on scientific education will be abolished.
2. The government’s contribution to scientific education will receive an additional investment of €1.15 billion per year.
3. There is an oligopoly on publications in academia, with three large publishing companies own a large proportion of journals and academic publishing channels. This costs university libraries half their budget. The government will counteract this oligopoly by investing in open access publishing, through digital infrastructure and international lobbying.
4. The government is going to work to stop the influence of the fossil industry on education, particularly in the curriculum.
5. Each institution will have a diversity committee and there will be a diversity quota in all levels of education and administration in higher education.
6. Boards of directors and supervisory boards will be democratically elected