Why are so many Dutch primary schools called “De Regenboog”?
Waarom zoveel basisscholen De Regenboog heten
A2 Dutch listening practice · Dutch · Picked for people who know a little
In Dutch primary education, De Regenboog (“The Rainbow”) is the single most common school name: 96 basisscholen across the Netherlands share it, with De Wegwijzer and De Jozefschool not far behind. The name is popular partly because Dutch primary education is denominationally diverse (openbaar, katholiek, protestants-christelijk, islamitisch, hindoeïstisch, montessori, vrijeschool, jenaplan) and De Regenboog reads as inclusive without committing to a particular tradition. The repetition is so pronounced that De Regenboog in any Dutch town is just understood as a primary school by default.
In this clip, NOS Jeugdjournaal counts down: “Op 3, de Jozefschool. Iets meer scholen hebben de naam de Wegwijzer. En de meest voorkomende schoolnaam in Nederland is de Regenboog.”
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Harder words in this video
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Source: wordfreq 3.1.1 (general) · SUBTLEX-NL 2014 (spoken). These numbers are close, not perfect.
- ▸In Dutch education and DUO statistics writing (DUO, Onderwijsinspectie, Trouw)
- ▸In Dutch coverage of school choice and zuilensysteem (NRC, De Volkskrant, De Correspondent)
- ▸In Dutch primary-school cultural content (Het Klokhuis, Schooltv, NOS Jeugdjournaal)
- ▸In Dutch parenting writing about school choice (Kek Mama, Ouders van Nu, J/M Ouders)