Setting up an education complaints committee: join one or form your own
Every Dutch school board must have complaints regulations under which a complaints committee handles complaints. The question is not whether, but where: with the national committee, with the committees for denominational education, or in-house. Three routes, each with its trade-offs and the mistake school boards make most often.
The Dutch legal basis in brief
Dutch law for primary, secondary and special education requires the school board to have complaints regulations for parents, pupils and staff, with a complaints committee that handles complaints about conduct and decisions and advises the board. The board must actively publicise those regulations, in practice through the school prospectus and website, and give a reasoned decision after receiving the advice. Within that framework the form is free, and that is where the choice begins. Explore the three routes below.
Joining a national committee does not mean the work is done: the contact person, the confidential adviser and case registration remain the board's responsibility.
What the committee handles, and what it does not
The complaints committee deals with conduct and decisions: how staff treated someone, the support given to a pupil, the approach to bullying and social safety, communication around a suspension, how school rules were applied. Alongside it are specialist routes that are often confused with it: disputes about inclusive education and admission to special education, disputes about participation in school governance, and staff employment matters each have their own committees, and exam decisions have their own appeals procedure. Good complaints regulations actively point the complainant to the right route, because nothing is more frustrating than waiting months in the wrong procedure. That principle, each body with its own task, applies in education just as it does in every other sector.
Running your own committee professionally
If you choose your own committee, or keep your own arrangement alongside national affiliation, you face the same set-up questions as any other sector: rules, appointments, process and accountability. The step-by-step approach is in our complaints committee guide, the rules themselves in drafting complaints regulations, recruiting an independent chair and members in recruiting committee members and the choice between an in-house and an external committee in internal or external complaints committee. How the same process works in healthcare is explained in setting up a healthcare complaints committee.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. Dutch education law requires every school board to have complaints regulations under which a complaints committee handles complaints. The board chooses the form: joining a national committee such as the LKC or one of the GCBO committees, or setting up its own. The regulations, and where to find them, must be made known to parents, pupils and staff, usually through the school prospectus.
The National Complaints Committee for Education (LKC) at Onderwijsgeschillen is open to school boards of every denomination. The GCBO foundation brings together the complaints committees for denominational education, organised by denomination. The procedure and the safeguards are similar: both investigate the complaint, hear the parties and advise the school board. The choice mainly depends on the school's denomination and the board's preference.
Parents and carers, pupils and staff, and depending on the regulations, others who are part of the school community. Complaints can concern the conduct and decisions of the school board or staff: for example pupil support, how someone was treated, social safety, bullying, suspension or how school rules were applied.
No, the committee advises. The school board decides and tells the complainant and the committee whether it agrees with the committee's opinion and what measures it will take. That does not make the advice optional: reasoned advice that is set aside without sound justification will almost certainly resurface, through the participation council, the Inspectorate of Education or the courts.
The confidential adviser is the first port of call: an accessible contact who supports the complainant, helps them choose the right route and can assist in submitting a complaint. Many schools have an internal contact person at each school and an external confidential adviser for the whole board. The confidential adviser does not handle the complaint; that is the committee's task.
That is set by the board's complaints regulations or the rules of the national committee. Allow a few months from submission to advice, after which the school board decides within the period set in the regulations, in many model regulations within four weeks of the advice. What matters most for trust is that every step has a deadline and that the complainant is kept informed of progress along the way.
Adminio gives the complaints committee its own environment, separate from the school organisation. Complaints arrive there, case files stay complete and deadlines are monitored. Committee members prepare cases with previous advice and the relevant regulations to hand through the assistant, and parents and staff can see the status of their case without having to phone.
This article is general information, not legal advice. Regulations differ from board to board and can change. Sources (in Dutch): Onderwijsgeschillen (LKC) and GCBO foundation. Last updated: .