Access to education and other children’s rights

When moving from one country to another for job reasons, one of the issues expat parents have to deal with is choosing the right school for their child(ren). As parents, you want the best conditions for obtaining the necessary diplomas for facing the global future. After all, the kids of today often already consider the world to be theirs.A child's right to access education (Art 28 of the Convention) is considered to be very important. Without a doubt, with a good education, children are better prepared for their future. The Netherlands offers a wide scale of opportunities for primary, secondary and academic education. For students, many options for exchange programmes or platforms for developing skills and further knowledge are often within reach. Sometimes even international grants are offered; not just for university students, but also for vocational training. Options can also entail complications, however – for instance, when the emotional well-being of the children in the new country threatens to become compromised. This is likely to happen when (expat) parents expect their children to be cognitively able to cope with all the demands of school, as well as extracurricular language lessons and/or religious education so as not to lose touch with their culture of origin: something that is made possible by the large offer of education in the Netherlands.