- 2020Implementation
- 2021Implementation
- 2022Implementation
- 2023Implementation
- 2024Implementation
Background
Annually more than 25 000 young people drop out of education without a basic qualification (startkwalificatie, an upper secondary education or upper secondary VET level 2 qualification). Starting work without obtaining a diploma can be an attractive option for a young person and an employer in the short term, but figures show that young people who do not obtain a basic qualification are less often sustainably employed.
In October 2019, the government expressed the ambition to support young early leavers from education and training to obtain at least a basic qualification, or if they do not succeed after much effort, to follow an alternative route (e.g. a combination of learning and working, care or daytime activities). The Cabinet has, therefore, announced that it will take further steps to fully support young early leavers on their way to sustainable economic independence.
Objectives
The approach, apart from preventing early leaving from education and training, also has the objective of easing the path of young early leavers from education and training back to school or to work.
Description
Since March 2020, the education ministry has issued three policy letters discussing the new approach to further combat early leaving from education and training and support young early leavers achieving sustainable economic independence.
In the first letter (March 2020), the government and various stakeholders from education and the labour market (including employers' organisations) expressed their joint intention to focus on apprenticeships (dual pathway) to help working, young dropouts to obtain at least a basic qualification. Apprenticeships (dual pathway) offer young people the opportunity to combine work and obtain a basic qualification. Stakeholders agreed that when schools get signals that learners wish to stop education and start working before having obtained a basic qualification, schools and employers will try to find a way to help them obtain a basic qualification. For example, by offering the youngster an apprenticeship contract.
In mid-May 2020, the Cabinet announced its decision to invest nearly EUR 500 million extra in education to mitigate the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. Part of this package includes compensating for study delay, supporting students in catching up educational arrears and ensuring sufficient internships and apprenticeships.
The second letter (July 2020) focused on the progress of measures introduced as a response to Interdepartmental policy research (Interdepartementaal...
Since March 2020, the education ministry has issued three policy letters discussing the new approach to further combat early leaving from education and training and support young early leavers achieving sustainable economic independence.
In the first letter (March 2020), the government and various stakeholders from education and the labour market (including employers' organisations) expressed their joint intention to focus on apprenticeships (dual pathway) to help working, young dropouts to obtain at least a basic qualification. Apprenticeships (dual pathway) offer young people the opportunity to combine work and obtain a basic qualification. Stakeholders agreed that when schools get signals that learners wish to stop education and start working before having obtained a basic qualification, schools and employers will try to find a way to help them obtain a basic qualification. For example, by offering the youngster an apprenticeship contract.
In mid-May 2020, the Cabinet announced its decision to invest nearly EUR 500 million extra in education to mitigate the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. Part of this package includes compensating for study delay, supporting students in catching up educational arrears and ensuring sufficient internships and apprenticeships.
The second letter (July 2020) focused on the progress of measures introduced as a response to Interdepartmental policy research (Interdepartementaal beleidsonderzoek, IBO) in 2019 on young adults at a distance from the labour market. In this letter, the Minister for Education indicated that she would take further steps to provide young early leavers with integrated support on their way to sustainable economic independence. Parallel to the mid-May announcement, which was mainly aimed at the short and medium-term effects of the crisis, the Cabinet presented its approach to resolve fundamental bottlenecks, identified by the Interdepartmental policy research, that early leavers are experiencing on their way back to education, training or employment. The government's response (issued in 2019) to this survey included 14 measures that are directed at preventing early leaving and tackling youth unemployment. The most significant measures directed at early leaving are:
- enhancing guidance and monitoring of young early leavers up to the age of 27, via a major role for municipalities;
- promoting tailor-made tracks in upper secondary VET, especially in VET level 2 programmes. Courses that start in the school-based pathway and end in the dual one, could offer a solution to the increasing shortage of apprenticeship placements due to the COVID-19 pandemic;
- monitoring early school leaving, based on the plans of the 40 regions for the implementation of the Early school leaving and attendance policy (Regionale Meld- en Coördinatiepunt, RMC). Regions have developed plans up to the academic year 2023/24;
- developing a bill, which extends the qualification requirement for support to the age of 21. After online public consultation, it is expected to be formally submitted to parliament in spring 2021.
Measures aiming to mitigate the effects of the coronavirus pandemic were in implementation phase, as well as regional plans to reduce early school leaving. Long-term measures were in the design phase, such as measures to increase the possibilities for tailor-made tracks.
The bill to extend the qualification requirement for support to the age of 21 was open for public consultation in July-September 2020. The reactions emphasise that force and urgency are not effective, because the young need intrinsic motivation to obtain the qualification requirement. By extending the requirement, students will be forced to school, which may lead to negative atmosphere in the classroom.
In the third letter (February 2021), the government reported on the progress of the approach to combat early leaving from education and training. EUR 24.5 million has been made available for VET institutions to provide final-year students and graduate students, who have a high risk of youth unemployment, extra guidance and aftercare. In this letter, the minister discussed some measures to provide support to regions in tackling early school leaving. Important measures are to harness the power of parents in reducing dropout, to map out factors which are related to early school leaving so that regions can recognise signals of early school dropout, and to identify young people who leave school without the requirement qualification.
The following measures are currently being implemented to combat early leaving during the COVID-19 pandemic:
- vulnerable learners may attend level 1 VET programmes at school instead of through distance learning as much as possible;
- schools and municipalities keep close communication with young people despite distance learning;
- local VET stakeholders (e.g. schools, attendance officers, municipalities, etc.) are helped to work well together.
Extra support is provided to regions to address challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. First, schools will receive financial support to continue providing education in lockdown, which should prevent and combat student education arrears (this scheme is called Extra hulp voor de klas). Second, they have received further financial support to carry out their own regional plans (RMC) for tackling early school leaving for 2020-24. In addition, regions will receive extra resources to combat youth unemployment.
The Association of Dutch municipalities (VNG) and the Council for upper secondary VET schools (MBO raad) formed an alliance to achieve more sustainable cooperation in terms of preventing early leaving in times of COVID 19 pandemic. In the future, the alliance may continue cooperating on other topics.
The bill on extending qualification requirement has not yet been passed.
In March 2022, the education ministry issued a policy letter on the number of early leavers. During the previous academic year (2020/21), 24 385 students left education without a basic qualification. This is 1 619 more than the year before (2019/20). Consequently, the goal of a maximum of 20 000 new early school leavers annually has not been achieved yet.
The education ministry and the unemployment coordinator of each region discussed the effects of their early school leaving approach, the extent to which they were achieving their own goals, what success factors and bottlenecks they experienced, and the improvements they saw, both locally and nationally. Based on these discussions, the education minister intends to strengthen the existing approach and to integrate it into a school-to-work approach. Together with the Minister of Poverty, Participation and Pensions, they are preparing a joint bill, which will be available for online consultation in the summer of 2023.
According to the latest figures from the education ministry, approximately 30 000 students left VET (upper secondary vocational education) without obtaining a diploma in the 2021/22 academic year. This marks an increase of 5 000 students compared to the previous year. While there is an established strategy to address early school leaving, the positive outcomes achieved so far remain insufficient due to a variety of underlying causes.
The Council for Upper Secondary VET Schools (MBO Raad) identifies three primary reasons for the rise in dropout rates:
- mental well-being issues: Many young people face challenges related to their mental health.
- poor education choices: Limited opportunities to attend information sessions during the COVID-19 pandemic led to students making unsuitable education choices.
- labour market tightness: The current demand for labour makes leaving school without a basic qualification more appealing, as students can find jobs easily.
To address these issues, the Council for Upper Secondary VET Schools (MBO Raad) advocates for a broader, collective approach involving civil society organisations to improve mental well-being. Additionally, they propose postponing the timing of students' education choices to reduce the likelihood of poor decisions. Finally, the VET Working Agenda includes agreements aimed at encouraging young people to complete at least a basic qualification before entering the workforce.
In March 2024, the Minister of Education issued a policy letter on the number of early school leavers. During the academic year 2022/23, 30 246 students left education without a basic qualification. This is almost the same as the previous year. This figure remains significantly higher than the target of a maximum of 18 000 new early school leavers by 2026.
To tackle early school leaving, the Minister of Education submitted the Early school leaving sction plan to the parliament. The Action plan focusses on the three main causes of early school leaving and emphasises collaboration between schools and municipalities. To support these efforts, the Minister of Education has allocated additional funding.
Bodies responsible
- Ministry of Education, Culture and Science
Target groups
Learners
- Learners in upper secondary, including apprentices
- Young people (15-29 years old)
- Learners at risk of early leaving or/and early leavers
Thematic categories
Governance of VET and lifelong learning
This thematic category looks at existing legal frameworks providing for strategic, operational – including quality assurance – and financing arrangements for VET and lifelong learning (LLL). It examines how VET and LLL-related policies are placed in broad national socioeconomic contexts and coordinate with other strategies and policies, such as economic, social and employment, growth and innovation, recovery and resilience.
This thematic category covers partnerships and collaboration networks of VET stakeholders – especially the social partners – to shape and implement VET in a country, including looking at how their roles and responsibilities for VET at national, regional and local levels are shared and distributed, ensuring an appropriate degree of autonomy for VET providers to adapt their offer.
The thematic category also includes efforts to create national, regional and sectoral skills intelligence systems (skills anticipation and graduate tracking) and using skills intelligence for making decisions about VET and LLL on quality, inclusiveness and flexibility.
This thematic sub-category refers both to formal mechanisms of stakeholder engagement in VET governance and to informal cooperation among stakeholders, which motivate shared responsibility for quality VET. Formal engagement is usually based on legally established institutional procedures that clearly define the role and responsibilities for relevant stakeholders in designing, implementing and improving VET. It also refers to establishing and increasing the degree of autonomy of VET providers for agile and flexible VET provision.
In terms of informal cooperation, the sub-category covers targeted actions by different stakeholders to promote or implement VET. This cooperation often leads to creating sustainable partnerships and making commitments for targeted actions, in line with the national context and regulation, e.g. national alliances for apprenticeships, pacts for youth or partnerships between schools and employers. It can also include initiatives and projects run by the social partners or sectoral organisations or networks of voluntary experts and executives, retired or on sabbatical, to support their peers in the fields of VET and apprenticeships, as part of the EAfA.
Modernising VET offer and delivery
This thematic category looks at what and how individuals learn, how learning content and learning outcomes in initial and continuing VET are defined, adapted and updated. First and foremost, it examines how VET standards, curricula, programmes and training courses are updated and modernised or new ones created. Updated and renewed VET content ensures that learners acquire a balanced mix of competences that address modern demands, and are more closely aligned with the realities of the labour market, including key competences, digital competences and skills for green transition and sustainability, both sector-specific and across sectors. Using learning outcomes as a basis is important to facilitate this modernisation, including modularisation of VET programmes. Updating and developing teaching and learning materials to support the above is also part of the category.
The thematic category continues to focus on strengthening high-quality and inclusive apprenticeships and work-based learning in real-life work environments and in line with the European framework for quality and effective apprenticeships. It looks at expanding apprenticeship to continuing vocational training and at developing VET programmes at EQF levels 5-8 for better permeability and lifelong learning and to support the need for higher vocational skills.
This thematic category also focuses on VET delivery through a mix of open, digital and participative learning environments, including workplaces conducive to learning, which are flexible, more adaptable to the ways individuals learn, and provide more access and outreach to various groups of learners, diversifying modes of learning and exploiting the potential of digital learning solutions and blended learning to complement face-to-face learning.
Centres of vocational excellence that connect VET to innovation and skill ecosystems and facilitate stronger cooperation with business and research also fall into this category.
This thematic sub-category covers all developments related to work-based learning (WBL) elements in VET programmes and apprenticeships which continue to be important in the policy agenda. It includes measures to stabilise the offer of apprenticeships, the implementation of the European framework for quality and effective apprenticeships, and using the EU on-demand support services and policy learning initiatives among the Member States. It also covers further expansion of apprenticeships and WBL to continuing VET (CVET), for transition to work and inclusion of vulnerable groups, and for improving citizens’ qualification levels.
Supporting lifelong learning culture and increasing participation
Lifelong learning refers to all learning (formal, non-formal or informal) taking place at all stages in life and resulting in an improvement or update in knowledge, skills, competences and attitudes or in participation in society from a personal, civic, cultural, social or employment-related perspective (Erasmus+, Glossary of terms, https://erasmus-plus.ec.europa.eu/programme-guide/part-d/glossary-common-terms). A systemic approach to CVET is crucial to ensure adaptability to evolving demands.
This broad thematic category looks at ways of creating opportunities and ensuring access to re-skilling and upskilling pathways, allowing individuals to progress smoothly in their learning throughout their lives with better permeability between general and vocational education and training, and better integration and compatibility between initial and continuing VET and with higher education. Individuals should be supported in acquiring and updating their skills and competences and navigating easily through education and training systems. Strategies and campaigns that promote VET and LLL as an attractive and high-quality pathway, providing quality lifelong guidance and tailored support to design learning and career paths, and various incentives (financial and non-financial) to attract and support participation in VET and LLL fall into this thematic category as well.
This thematic category also includes many initiatives on making VET inclusive and ensuring equal education and training opportunities for various groups of learners, regardless of their personal and economic background and place of residence – especially those at risk of disadvantage or exclusion, such as persons with disabilities, the low-skilled and low-qualified, minorities, migrants, refugees and others.
This thematic sub-category refers to ensuring smooth transitions (permeability) of learners within the entire education and training system, horizontally and vertically. It includes measures and policies allowing learners easily or by meeting certain conditions to move from general education programmes to VET and vice versa; to increase qualification levels in their vocation through the possibility of attending vocational programmes at higher levels, including professional degrees in higher education. It also covers opening up learning progression by introducing flexible pathways that are based on the validation and recognition of the outcomes of non-formal and informal learning.
This thematic sub-category refers to making VET pathways and programmes inclusive and accessible for all. It concerns measures and targeted actions to increase access and participation in VET and lifelong learning for learners from all vulnerable groups, and to support their school/training-to-work transitions. It includes measures to prevent early leaving from education and training. The thematic sub-category covers measures promoting gender balance in traditionally ‘male’ and ‘female’ professions and addressing gender-related and other stereotypes. The vulnerable groups are, but not limited to: persons with disabilities; the low-qualified/-skilled; minorities; persons of migrant background, including refugees; people with fewer opportunities due to their geographical location and/or their socioeconomically disadvantaged circumstances.
European priorities in VET
VET Recommendation
- VET promoting equality of opportunities
Subsystem
Further reading
Country
Type of development
Cedefop, & ReferNet. (2025). Preventing early school leaving: Netherlands. In Cedefop, & ReferNet. (2025). Timeline of VET policies in Europe (2024 update) [Online tool].
https://www.cedefop.europa.eu/en/tools/timeline-vet-policies-europe/search/39951