Secondary school pupils in deprived areas are not getting the education they need, the Volkskrant reports on Thursday.

There is not enough money to pay for extra lessons or for the care some pupils need, and teachers are working unpaid hours to fulfil the need, school heads told the paper.

Schools get extra money from the government for pupils from deprived areas. There are also additional subsidies available from councils. But school heads say this is not enough.

In addition, total school budgets are shrinking which is adding to the problem.

At the Hugo de Groot secondary school in Rotterdam, for instance, teachers are working a 60-hour week on a 36-hour contract to provide extra lessons.

Awake

In Amsterdam, the Comenius Lyceum squeezes extra lessons from a limited budget. ‘We have intelligent pupils but they do need extra attention,’ school head Kees Buijtelaar told the paper. ‘So we offer additional language and maths lessons, but I sometimes lie awake wondering how to keep within the budget.’

Paul Rosenmöller of the secondary school council VO-raad is aware of the problems, the Volkskrant says. ‘The way these teachers give up their free time is fantastic, but it is not a structural solution,’ he said.

Last year, 30 primary schools in deprived areas of Amsterdam sounded the alarm about the amount of money going into schools.