Basic Education

From its origins the Gymnasium has been split up into the first three (=onderbouw)and final three (=bovenbouw) years.
In the onderbouw the programme provides education of a general character offering the pupils many opportunities to get oriented in the school subjects, the bovenbouw is characterized by a certain specialisation towards the various studies at university level. For a number of years now education of 12 to 15-year-olds has been called Basic Education. This covers all forms of secondary education in the Netherlands. However, the Basic Education a Gymnasium has to offer differs considerably from the programme of other school types. Where theory promises a single, fundamental form of education for everyone, practice makes clear that the level at which pupils are taught may differ strongly.