Primary schools and childcare centers in North Holland will ask the ‘vaccination question’ after all

The schools and child centers (which also house childcare) sent a letter to the parents of the students last week. Tabijn is the first school board in the Netherlands to ask the question about vaccinations when registering new students. Due to compulsory education, schools do not have the option to refuse unvaccinated children.

De Tabijn’s 21 primary schools and child centers are mainly located in Castricum and Heemskerk. Some of the schools share a building with childcare. Children between the ages of 0 and 4 go there.

Clear purpose

According to the PO Council, the umbrella organization for primary education, questions about vaccinations are only allowed if there is a clearly communicated goal in advance. A spokesperson for outgoing minister Mariëlle Paul (Primary and Secondary Education) emphasizes that the usefulness and necessity must always be demonstrable.

Vaccination details

The school must inform parents exactly what happens to the vaccination data and who has access to the data, according to the Dutch Data Protection Authority. Tabijn board chair Carla Smits says that the question is asked verbally to the parents. “If parents are so open as to say that they have not vaccinated their child, for the sake of the safety of our schools and child centers we will say: we believe vaccination is important.”

Within the law

The school board remains within the law. This is what Martin Buijsen, professor of Health Law at Erasmus University in Rotterdam, says. It is a different story if children are refused admission to schools because they have not been vaccinated or if the data is stored somewhere.

Vaccination obligation for childcare

A majority of the House of Representatives does not see a requirement for vaccinations for children in childcare. According to Professor Buijsen, the Netherlands has never really wanted to have a vaccination requirement. This does not apply to Germany, Italy and the Czech Republic. The vaccination requirement has been introduced there. According to the court, such a duty is not contrary to the European Convention on Human Rights. The Netherlands simply attaches great importance to privacy and physical integrity, says Buijsen.

By: National Education Guide / Femke van Arendonk