2027 Work Programme

The work programme is established in part through consultations with officials from the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW), parliamentarians, and representatives of organisations representing pupils and students, parents, teachers and lecturers, school leaders, and other education professionals, profile organisations, trade unions, sector councils, and childcare providers.

Advisory reports

The Education Council of the Netherlands previously scheduled publications regarding the structure of the education system and the position of specialised education. Consequently, over the coming year, the Council will work on advisory reports regarding:

• Education system: at the request of the Senate, the Council will examine what actions the government must take, through the structure of the education system, to ensure good education for all.
• Specialised education: at the request of the House of Representatives, the Council will explore the evolving role and position of specialised education within the current education system, focusing on what pupils require to fully participate in education.
• Education system governance: on its own initiative, the Council will examine the current governance structure of education to determine how various actors can fulfil their shared responsibility for good education.
• Good education: at the request of the House of Representatives, the Council will address what constitutes good education.
• Quality differences between schools: at the request of the House of Representatives, the Council will investigate how the learning and organisational capacity of schools can be enhanced to reduce quality differences between schools.
• Resilience: at the request of the Minister of Education, Culture and Science, the Council will explore the role education can play in building societal resilience in the Netherlands.
• AI and digitalisation: at the request of the Minister of Education, Culture and Science, the Council will update and build upon previous advisory reports on digitalisation in education. The focus will be on the collective prerequisites for the responsible use of generative AI and how these can be safeguarded within the education system.

The Council is also preparing several legislative advisory reports, including those on tailored learning in foundational education and future-proof funding in senior secondary vocational education (mbo).

Responding to developments

The selection of topics is driven by developments in education and society, by emerging or persistent policy challenges, and by proposed policies and legislation. Some issues are longstanding, structural, or complex. Others are new, unforeseen, or require updates - particularly when developments accelerate.

Responding to rapidly changing circumstances, partly through interim requests for advice, requires flexible programming. For this reason, the Council will transition to an annual work programme in 2027.

About the Education Council

Good education for everyone: that is the goal which the Education Council of the Netherlands is committed to helping achieve.For over a century, the Council has been providing independent advice on education policy and legislation to the government and both houses of parliament (the Senate and the House of Representatives) - both upon request and on its own initiative. This results in advisory reports that focus on the long term, covering all forms of education: from early childhood provision to post-doctoral education and lifelong learning.