NOB (Stichting Nederlands Onderwijs in het Buitenland)

What NOB (Stichting Nederlands Onderwijs in het Buitenland) does

NOB (Stichting Nederlands Onderwijs in het Buitenland) is a Dutch non-profit foundation (stichting) established in 1980 and headquartered in Rijswijk, Netherlands, operating under a standing commission from the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (Ministerie van OCW). Its core function is to coordinate, quality-assure, and support Dutch-language education for Dutch and Flemish expatriate children worldwide, serving as the only officially mandated umbrella organization (koepelorganisatie) for this purpose. NOB supports a network of approximately 180 schools across more than 80 countries serving roughly 13,000 students, including NTC schools (Nederlandse Taal- en Cultuurscholen), full-curriculum Dutch schools, Dutch sections of European Schools, and online education providers. It also acts as the formal employer for approximately 40 Dutch teachers at eight European Schools and represents the Netherlands on the Board of European Schools.

The foundation's product and service portfolio centers on four digital platforms: Globus (online information and resource environment for affiliated schools), NOB Campus (professional development platform with learning paths, knowledge videos, and NOB Café sessions), LeerlingVizier (biennial online survey of students and parents conducted with research bureau Enneûs), and the Scholenzoeker (school finder tool). Beyond software, NOB delivers annual professional development events (e.g., NOB Bijscholing 2025 in Egmond aan Zee with 170+ participants), teacher training, advocacy, and centralized subsidies to affiliated schools. Its operations are ISO 9001:2015 certified (since July 2023).

NOB's business model is a government-commissioned non-profit structure. Primary funding flows from the Dutch Ministry of OCW, supplemented by affiliation agreements with member schools, subsidies, and partner relationships with entities such as the Departement Onderwijs Vlaanderen, Taalunie, Nuffic, and the Inspectie van het Onderwijs. NOB does not publicly disclose revenue and does not have a parent company, venture backing, or subsidiaries; pricing is not publicly disclosed and the organization explicitly refers parents to individual schools for school-specific fees.

Name

NOB (Stichting Nederlands Onderwijs in het Buitenland)

Legal name

Stichting Nederlands Onderwijs in het Buitenland

Website

https://stichtingnob.nl

Company type

Private

Founded year

1980

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

NOB is a Dutch non-profit foundation commissioned by the Ministry of Education that coordinates Dutch-language education abroad, supporting approximately 180 schools across 80+ countries and 13,000 students through platforms (Globus, NOB Campus, Scholenzoeker), professional development, and quality assurance.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

International Education Coordination

NAICS

Educational Support Services (611710), Educational Support Services (61171)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Standards Alignment & Curriculum Mapping Resources (State/NAEYC/Head Start) (EDACAJAN)

akta.pro secondary industries

Open Courseware & Course Modules (OCW) (EDAGAJAB), Open Assessments & Question Banks (OER-aligned) (EDAGAJAD)

Keywords

• Dutch education abroad
• Overseas education coordination
• Expatriate language education
• International school network
• Teacher professional development

Headquarters

HQ city

Rijswijk

HQ country

Netherlands

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Government Funding (Ministry of OCW): NOB operates under a commission from the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (Ministerie van OCW) to promote and support high standards of Dutch education for Dutch-speaking children worldwide. This government mandate provides the primary funding for NOB's operations as a non-profit foundation.

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

NOB is a non-profit umbrella organization and knowledge center that coordinates and supports approximately 180 Dutch-language schools across 80+ countries, serving around 13,000 students. Under commission from the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW), it provides quality assurance, professional development, educational resources, financial subsidies, and acts as formal employer for Dutch teachers at European Schools. NOB also operates online platforms (Globus, NOB Campus, LeerlingVizier) to facilitate information sharing, training, and research for affiliated schools and expatriate families.

Product overview

NOB (Stichting Nederlands Onderwijs in het Buitenland) operates as a non-profit umbrella organization and knowledge center for Dutch-language education abroad. The organization does not offer a single unified software product but rather provides a network of educational services including Globus (an online information and resource environment for schools), NOB Campus (a professional development platform with learning paths and knowledge resources), LeerlingVizier (a biennial research survey), and the Scholenzoeker (school finder tool). NOB supports approximately 180 Dutch schools worldwide in over 80 countries, offering guidance on educational content, organizational management, and governance. The organization also facilitates connections between Dutch education facilities globally and represents Dutch educational interests within the Netherlands.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Globus Online information and resource environment for affiliated Dutch-language schools, providing tools that save time in school management and coordination.
• NOB Campus Professional development platform offering learning paths, knowledge videos, and NOB Cafés where school staff can professionalize and exchange ideas with colleagues across the worldwide network.
• LeerlingVizier Biennial online survey of students receiving Dutch-language education abroad and their parents, developed in collaboration with research bureau Enneús, providing insights into background characteristics, experiences, and wishes.
• Scholenzoeker (School Finder) Online directory tool enabling parents to locate Dutch-language schools in their location across NOB's worldwide network of approximately 180 schools.
• NOB Bijscholing (Annual Professional Development Event) Annual professional development event for teachers, school leaders, and board members of Dutch schools abroad, providing training, networking, and inspiration.
• European Schools Teaching Services NOB acts as formal employer for approximately 40 Dutch teachers working at 8 European Schools with Dutch-language sections, and represents the Netherlands on the Board of European Schools.

Quantifiable outcome

• 98% of parents expect their children to return to the Netherlands or Flanders eventually
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Departement Onderwijs VlaanderencoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFlemish Department of Education collaboration on Dutch-language education in Belgium and internationally. Supports Dutch-speaking community in Belgium.
• Inspectie van het OnderwijscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDutch Education Inspectorate provides quality oversight for Dutch schools abroad affiliated with NOB. Schools under NOB's umbrella are inspected for educational quality.
• Internationale Vereniging voor Neerlandistiek (IVN)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational Association for Dutch language and literature studies, supporting academic collaboration on Dutch language.
• Ministerie van Buitenlandse ZakencoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMinistry of Foreign Affairs partnership for promoting Dutch education worldwide and supporting Dutch expatriates.
• Ministerie van Onderwijs Cultuur en Wetenschap (OCW)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNOB operates under official commission from Ministry of Education, Culture and Science to promote and support Dutch education worldwide.
• Office of the Secretary General of the European SchoolscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNOB represents the Netherlands on the Board of European Schools and serves as employer for Dutch teachers at European Schools.
• Stichting Grenzeloos Onder Een Dak (GOED)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFoundation supporting inclusive education, collaboration on educational initiatives for Dutch children abroad.
• Stichting Nederlanders Buiten NederlandminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFoundation for Dutch citizens living abroad, providing support and services to the Dutch expatriate community.
• TaaluniecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLanguage Union partnership for Dutch language promotion. Collaborated on 'Week van het Nederlands' and 'Wereldwijde Taalkrant' publication.
• Vlamingen in de WereldminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerOrganization for Flemish people worldwide, supporting Dutch-speaking expatriate community.
• Enneüs (onderzoeksbureau)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch bureau that assists with composing questionnaires, conducts the online survey, and processes data for LeerlingVizier biennial research.
• NufficcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDutch organization for internationalization in education. Collaboration on 'Onbegrensd taalleren' vision document for future language learning.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Alliance Française: Alliance Française is a global network of French non-profit associations promoting French language and culture. It mirrors NOB's role in maintaining French-language education infrastructure abroad and shares the umbrella-network model, but primarily targets adult learners rather than K-12 expatriate children.
• Goethe-Institut: The Goethe-Institut is Germany's federally funded cultural institute promoting German language and culture worldwide. It parallels NOB's network model for national-language education abroad but focuses predominantly on adult learners and cultural programming rather than K-12 instruction for expatriate children.
• Instituto Cervantes: Instituto Cervantes is Spain's official public institution promoting Spanish language and culture worldwide. It parallels NOB in providing government-backed language and cultural education infrastructure across many countries, with a comparable hub-and-network operating model.
• Confucius Institute (Hanban): Confucius Institutes are Chinese government-funded centers promoting Chinese language and culture worldwide. They mirror NOB's network model for national-language education abroad, operating at significantly larger scale and with a stronger adult/learner focus but a structurally similar government-mandated, network-based operating approach.
• British Council: The British Council is the UK government's international organization for cultural relations and English-language education. While broader in scope than NOB (covering exams, cultural programs, and English teaching for adults), it operates under a similar government mandate to promote English-language education globally and offers overlapping capabilities in teacher training and curriculum support.

Direct peers

• ZfA (Zentralstelle für das Auslandsschulwesen): ZfA is the German Federal Foreign Office's central agency for German schools abroad, directly paralleling NOB's role. It supports ~140 German schools in 70+ countries with similar functions: quality oversight, teacher recruitment, curriculum alignment to German standards, and ministerial representation.
• Swiss Schools Abroad (Schweizerische Schulen im Ausland): Swiss Schools Abroad is the network of 18 Swiss government-recognized schools coordinated under the Swiss Conference of Cantonal Ministers of Education (EDK). It mirrors NOB's mandate for a smaller population, aligning curriculum to Swiss standards and supporting expatriate Swiss students with a similar umbrella model.
• AEFE (Agence pour l'Enseignement Français à l'Étranger): AEFE is the French government agency coordinating the network of French schools abroad under a similar ministerial mandate. It is the closest functional equivalent to NOB, supporting ~500 schools across 140+ countries with quality assurance, teacher placement, and curriculum alignment — a near-identical operating model applied to the French-speaking expatriate population.

Others

• Nuffic: Nuffic is the Dutch organization for internationalization in education and an active partner of NOB (collaborating on the 'Onbegrensd taalleren' vision document). It is thematically adjacent — both address Dutch language and broader internationalization of Dutch education — but Nuffic's mandate is broader (scholarships, higher-education mobility) rather than K-12 Dutch-language schools abroad.
• Taalunie (Nederlandse Taalunie): Taalunie is the intergovernmental Dutch Language Union of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname promoting Dutch language and culture. It is a documented partner of NOB (collaborating on 'Week van het Nederlands' and 'Wereldwijde Taalkrant') and addresses Dutch-language policy globally, though its mandate is language policy rather than school-network coordination.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/StichtingNOBNL
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/stichting-nob
• Instagraminstagram.com/stichtingnobnl

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about NOB (Stichting Nederlands Onderwijs in het Buitenland)