Faith‐based grant‐maintained schools: selective international policy borrowing from the Netherlands

Abstract

The 1993 Education Act for England and Wales opened the way for faith‐based grant‐maintained schools. The first applications for the re‐establishment of existing private schools as grant‐maintained schools have already been considered by the Funding Agency for Schools for England and decisions from the Secretary of State for Education are expected soon. The various individuals and pressure groups that supported this change in policy frequently drew on international comparisons in their claims for the right to establish state supported faith‐based schools. In particular, many advocates looked to the situation in the Netherlands where groups of parents or others are able to receive state funding for new private schools on an equal basis to state‐provided schools. This paper examines how state funding is obtained in the Netherlands and shows that advocates of faith‐based grant‐maintained schools in Britain have drawn very selectively on the Dutch situation. There are many elements of the Dutch situation that are in opposition to much of what advocates would desire. In particular, it is shown that recent developments in the Netherlands indicate that the Dutch position might be seen more as a warning to faith‐based schools than an example to be emulated.