A number of secondary schools are taking advantage of the move to free school books by forcing parents to pay the so-called voluntary parental contribution, the Telegraaf reports on Friday.

For example, some parents in Venlo have been told their children will not be eligible for school-supplied books unless they agree to the extra payout, the paper says. This year, all parents will get €316 towards the cost of school books. From next year, the money will go straight to schools.
The school inspectorate said earlier this week it would monitor the level of parental contributions from the 2009-2010 school year to make sure schools were not trying to get more money for books from parents.
But schools say this is not enough to cover the basic book package. The books for a child in pre-university education are upwards of €400, for example.