Waarom zoveel basisscholen De Regenboog heten

Why are so many Dutch primary schools called “De Regenboog”?

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.”