The subsidy scheme will open during May and will run for two years. A total of 2 million euros is available. It is expected to result in around 1,000 water taps, although there could be more.
Primary schools will be reimbursed for three-quarters of the costs. Schools must cover the remaining amount themselves. Municipalities or, for example, neighbourhood associations can of course also pay for this. After all, an entire street or neighbourhood benefits from a public water tap.
State Secretary Paul Blokhuis (VWS) is clear about the how and why of this agreement from the National Prevention Agreement: “With 1,000 water taps in schoolyards that are also available to the neighbourhood after school hours, we are taking a major concrete step forward in reducing overweight. Many schoolyards are also used for playing and sports after school. With a water tap, it becomes much more appealing for children playing there to drink water and then quickly get back to playing football, instead of going to the supermarket for a can of soda.”
The National Prevention Agreement states, among other things: "In addition, efforts will be made to ensure that drinking water becomes more readily available in people's surroundings, including through water taps in public places and schools."
As simple as possible
The Healthy School programme and Jongeren Op Gezond Gewicht (JOGG) will implement this in practice. As simply as possible, so that it creates as little administrative burden as possible for schools.
JOGG already has its own website about drinking water, http://overopdrinkwater.nl. It states, among other things, that children consume 6 kilos of sugar annually by drinking sugary beverages. The site also contains tips for making the switch and experiences from pupils, and you can create your own poster there.