The IGBO-Committee Dutch International Primary & Secondary Schools was founded in 1996.
The initiative was taken in the early eighties when multinationals like Shell Oil and Philips Electronics had more and more of their staff working all over the world.
In cooperation with the the Dutch inspector of education, Royal Dutch Shell Group promoted international primary and secondary education.
After all, a high level of international education is beneficial to the economy, as it makes it more attractive for foreign employees to come and work in the
The IGBO in The Netherlands provides English education for children from abroad, (temporary) residing in The Netherland. In this case the schools are Dutch schools with an international department. The schools are government subsidized and inspected by the Dutch inspector of education.
The Dutch IGBO shools are located in Almere, Amsterdam, Maastricht, Arnhem, Groningen, Hilversum, Rotterdam, Leiderdorp, Den Haag and Eindhoven and from August 2008 in Enschede .
IGBO schools offer the possibility to learn Dutch, to make integration into society easier.
Most IGBO schools also work with IPC- the International Primary Curriculum.
