Parent subsidies within the Tel mee met Taal (Count on skills) programme

Which organizations can apply for subsidy?

Schools, daycare centers, libraries, youth healthcare institutions, preschool facilities: all kinds of organizations can apply for subsidy to reduce and prevent low literacy. The subsidy must be used for activities related to the promotion of an intellectually stimulating home environment, educational partnerships between parents and schools, and the improvement of improve parents’ (digital) literacy.

Other parties

Besides schools and all kinds of other organizations, employers can also apply for subsidy to combat low literacy in the workplace.

Advantages

Investing in parents’ literacy and other basic skills not only has advantages for the parents themselves, but also for their child’s school or educational institution. This is because a linguistically rich home environment offers children greater opportunity to improve their language skills. Improving parents’ literacy also often leads to better communication between the parents and the school/institution, and to a higher level of parent involvement.

Eligibility

Usually, two types of subsidy are available:

1. Subsidy for a literacy, numeracy or basic digital skills course for parents with a language level below 2F, a calculation level below 2F, or a digital skills level below the basic level 2.
2. Subsidy for activities related to the promotion of educational partnerships and an intellectually stimulating home environment. These could be activities that foster a more linguistically rich home environment, such as help with reading. Or they could be activities that increase parents’ involvement in their child’s linguistic development.

Organizations may submit an application together with at least two other parties, which must in any case include a local library, a youth healthcare institution, an educational institution or a preschool facility. The subsidy must be used for basic skills training for low-literate parents. All applications must be supported by a municipality.

Organizations in the Caribbean Netherlands must submit an application together with at least one other party, which must be a local library, a youth healthcare institution, an educational institution or a preschool facility.

The subsidy may only be used to improve parents’ language proficiency in one of your country’s official languages. For parents residing in the European Netherlands, this is Dutch. For parents residing in the Caribbean Netherlands, these are Dutch, Papiamentu and English.

Amounts available

The following applies for all subsidy flows: the maximum subsidy amount per application is €125,000, and in some cases employers will be required to contribute to the training costs themselves. If the subsidy budget is exceeded, we will draw lots.

Organizations in the Caribbean Netherlands also have the option to have 100% of their course or other training activity reimbursed. Organizations who wish to make use of this option can apply for a maximum grant of €83,750 (33% less than the maximum subsidy amount).

In case lots are drawn

If the applications exceed the subsidy budget, we will draw lots to determine which subsidy applications will be approved. This ensures that everyone is treated fairly. Once the application deadline has passed, a notary will draw lots, after which DUS-i (the Dutch subsidy implementation agency) will check the applications for completeness and validity. DUS-i’s website offers more information about the draw procedure. Read the information in Dutch or in English.

How to apply

Application was possible from 1 January until 28 February 2024. DUS-i implements the Tel mee met Taal (Count on skills) subsidy scheme. Read more about the scheme on their website, in Dutch or in English. Or go there to submit your application. DUS-i’s contact details are also listed on their website, should you have any questions.

Read the full 2021-2024 Tel mee met Taal (Count on skills) Subsidy Scheme.

New round, new opportunities

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