Municipality of Montferland: exemptions from compulsory school attendance

In special circumstances, parents/guardians can request an exemption from obligatory registration at school.

Requests for additional leave up to a maximum of ten school days, can be made to the school's director. In such cases, the decision-making authority is the school director. They make a decision in compliance with laws and regulations. A school director is not allowed to grant leave for everything.

Requests for eleven school days or more additional leave must be made to the attendance officer (leerplichtambtenaar). The school director can forward your request to the attendance officer. In such cases, the decision-making authority is the attendance officer. They make a decision in compliance with laws and regulations. The request must be made at least eight weeks in advance. You can find the application form for extra leave by clicking on the green button on the right-hand side of this page.

According to the Law on Compulsory Education (Leerplichtwet) leave can be granted for:

• Moving house: no more than one day;
• For attending to legal obligations, if these cannot take place outside class times;
• Family members' anniversaries (one day);
• In the event of the serious illness or death of a family member (duration to be agreed);
• Other circumstances beyond the control of the parents and/or pupil.

Therefore, schools cannot grant extra leave for cheaper holidays in low season, picking up family, travelling with other people, visiting family abroad, previously purchased tickets, lack of availability of tickets in the holiday period, spreading out of holidays, holidays for another child in the family, other children in the family being already free or still free, leaving early or returning later due to traffic congestion, significant birthdays, sabbaticals, world tours or similar reasons.

Additional Leave

If the particular nature of the occupation of one of the parents means that holidays cannot be taken during school holidays, then leave may be granted once a year. The concept of the particular nature of the occupation means occupations in sectors with high levels of activity at specific times, making it virtually impossible for the family to go on holiday during these times. It must be reasonably easy to predict that a holiday during the school holidays would lead to insurmountable business problems. Parents must be able to prove this. The fact that only a significant part of the turnover is achieved during the school holidays is not sufficient.

Within these conditions, holiday leave may:

• Not take place in the first two weeks of classes of the school year;
• Amount to once per school year for a maximum of 10 consecutive school days (other holidays or public holidays must not be added to this number).