Strijdmakkers: ontstaan, groei en professionalisering van het Buitengewoon Onderwijs in Nederland, ca. 1895-1950

With the introduction of the Compulsory Education Act (1901) the State wanted to oblige all pupils to attend school. However, children with learning difficulties were exempted from that obligation. A simple statement from a medical 'doctor' was sufficient to that effect. In doing so, the State acted contrary to the constitution, which stipulated that sufficient educational facilities should be provided for all students of all denominations in every municipality. Activist educators, like P.H. Schreuder and H.J. Jacobs, and involved physicians such as D. Herderschêe and A. van Voorthuijsen, fought to make special education possible. They did not limit themselves to education alone, but were also involved in improving the health, the rehabilitation of the children, and the professional development of the teachers. They were driven by the belief that students who could not keep up with mainstream education were entitled to special education. They took responsibility for the development of the individual child in and outside the school with the ultimate goal that children with disabilities would get a good place in society and would no longer be excluded. To achieve this, they had always sought cooperation with other organizations in the field of special education. Collaboration, because jointly a stronger influence could be exerted on politicians to realize appropriate education for children with disabilities, anchored in legislation.With that, they made a major contribution to the professionalization that eventually, in 1949, led to a statutory system of Special Primary Education, later called Special Education.