Grant: A Long-Term Focus on Basic Skills Within Your Organization

In 2026, the municipality West Maas en Waal a one-time grant available to organizations that wish to help improve our residents’ basic skills, such as reading, writing, arithmetic, and digital literacy.

Limited basic skills affect virtually every area of life: work, health, parenting, finances, and social participation. By improving our residents’ basic skills, we improve opportunities for both them and their children. 

You will use the grant to implement a standardized way of working within your own organization that

  • identifies residents with limited basic skills
  • helps residents with limited basic skills

You’ll have a greater social impact. And you’ll improve the quality of your organization or services. 

Information about the grant: "Structural Focus on Basic Skills within Your Organization"

Amount of the grant

The grant ranges from €2,310 to €3,410. The amount of the grant depends on the size of the organization and the complexity of implementing the methodology for the organization.

We process applications in the order they are received, and once they're gone, they're gone!

Grant application period

You can apply for the grant until December 31, 2026.

Duration of the grant

The grant is awarded for a period of one year. 

Requirements receiving the grant

To receive the grant, you must meet the following Requirements:

  • Your organization operates in the municipality of West Maas en Waal
  • You are signing the "Declaration of Commitment to Prioritizing Basic Skills within Your Organization"
  • You must sign the participant declaration for the Rivierenland Regional Language Agreement 2025–2029 within the grant period 

Statement of Commitment and Implementation Goal

Letter of Commitment

Organizations that receive a grant will do their utmost to 

  • identify residents with limited basic skills
  • to provide further assistance to residents with limited basic skills

A condition for receiving the grant is that you sign the "Declaration of Commitment to Prioritizing Basic Skills within Your Organization."

Implementation objective

Organizations that receive a grant implement a standardized approach to reach and assist residents who struggle with basic skills.

By the end of the grant period, the organization had implemented the following:

  1. Identifying (the risk of) low literacy and discussing it is done in an accessible and appropriate manner during interactions with the individual concerned;
  2. There are cooperation agreements with various parties regarding the transition to education. The transition to the Digi-Taalhuis takes place through a smooth handover;
  3. Within the organization, a designated contact person (focal point) is responsible for efforts to address low literacy;
  4. The procedure for identifying and addressing low literacy (whether or not using screening tools) is established in internal work processes. In this regard, the grant recipient works together with the project coordinator for Basic Skills in Your Neighborhood;
  5. (New) employees are informed about and trained in the procedures (during their orientation). They must complete at least one online training course on identifying and addressing low literacy. Examples include the e-learning courses offered by Stichting Lezen en Schrijven ( ) or the training courses offered by Pharos( );
  6. Commitment to addressing low literacy and contributing to the Rivierenland Regional Language Agreement is ensured by completing and signing the participant declaration for the Rivierenland Regional Language Agreement 2025–2029;
  7. During an annual meeting with the municipality, progress on the approach and the needs of the subsidized organization regarding the identification and discussion of low literacy and the referral to the Taalhuis are discussed. Where necessary and possible, action is then taken. This meeting has a predetermined, integral place on the implementation agenda and, where necessary, on the agenda for administrative consultations.

Do you have any questions about the grant for "Structural Focus on Basic Skills" within your organization?

Are you unsure about applying for the grant? Do you have any questions, or would you like more information? Please contact Dagmar van Heerde at dvheerde@westmaasenwaal.nl or at 06 1997 3273.

Application Form for Your Organization's Commitment to Basic Skills

Files to download: