Ethnic School Segregation Exists: Possibilities for Counteracting Measures

Abstract

Ethnic school segregation exists. In The Netherlands, in other countries of Europe and in other parts of the world. It seems that it is partly caused by the freedom of parents to choose a school for their children. The result is a growing segregation between children with different cultural backgrounds. Proof is found for a white flight in The Netherlands, Denmark and the United Kingdom [1]. Countries, once they have acknowledged this development, are faced with a scope of possibilities for measures. In The Netherlands several initiatives are started and some measures were implemented to prevent primary education from ethnic segregation or to diminish it, when occurring. Most measures are parental initiatives or local dispersion plans. In this paper we will discuss some promising recent Dutch case studies of local parental initiatives and local dispersion,