ABSTRACT
In its most recent annual report, the Inspectorate of Education (2018) provided evidence of rising segregation in the Netherlands. The report highlights how, in primary education, children are increasingly distributed unequally on the basis of ethnic and socio-economic background. Free school choice enables wealthy parents to opt out of schools that have perceptibly more deprived pupils – thus expressing their wish for like-minded peers for their children. Similarly, parents from low socio-economic groups do not want to send their children to ‘snobbish’ schools, while ethnic groups are worried about the (perceived) loose morality around sexuality and gender in white schools. The result is an increasingly segregated landscape where children are educated in mostly socio-economically homogenous schools. School inspections are expected to counterbalance such mechanisms by informing parents of the true quality of schools, but like-mindedness and group identity seem stronger motivators for school choice. This chapter will reflect on the rising segregation in Dutch education, how this relates to generalized trust in the state to provide high quality education for all and a historic context of a ‘pillarized’ society and education system. It will also focus on issues around intergroup trust and why the long tradition of public reporting on school quality has not been able to curb this trend.
