A majority in the Dutch parliament has taken a clear stance: secondary school students should not have to rely on whatever device their parents can afford. Lawmakers in the Tweede Kamer have called on the government to seriously investigate whether laptops and tablets should be provided free of charge to all secondary students, potentially bringing digital devices under the same legal umbrella that already makes printed textbooks free. It is a proposal that could reshape how Dutch schools handle technology — and who bears the cost of it.
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Updating a Law Built for a Different Era
The push centres on the Wet Gratis Schoolboeken, a law passed in 2009 that guarantees free printed textbooks for secondary school pupils. When that legislation was written, laptops were far from standard classroom equipment. That world no longer exists.
Today, virtually every secondary student uses a digital device for their education, yet the law has not kept pace. Parents are still expected to purchase or arrange their own devices, creating an uneven playing field from the very first day of school.
The motion now passed by a parliamentary majority directs the government to explore transforming that existing law into something broader — a so-called Wet Gratis Leermiddelen, which would extend free provision to laptops, tablets, and other digital learning tools.
Critically, lawmakers want a concrete government response on whether this expansion is feasible by 2027, along with an examination of how schools might partially absorb some of the additional costs from within their own structures.
Three parliamentarians led the initiative: Marjolein Moorman of PRO, Ilana Rooderkerk of D66, and Arend Kisteman of VVD. Their argument is straightforward.
Bringing devices under the free materials law would help level the playing field between students from different financial backgrounds and give schools far greater control over the technology used in their classrooms. Right now, many secon.
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