THE HAGUE, Wednesday - Classy schools are receiving special government funds for pupils with learning arrears. An Amsterdam gymnasium school is classified as a disadvantaged school according to the education ministry's definition.

Until last year, all schools in further education received 1.9 times as much subsidy for each immigrant pupil living in the Netherlands for less than eight years as for an 'ordinary' child. The scheme was however adapted. The number of immigrant children in the class is no longer the criterion, but rather the district where the school is located.

Data on the number of residents who are unemployed, immigrants or those on a low income determine whether a district qualifies as deprived. A school receives extra money when more than 30 percent of its pupils live in a deprived district.

Rector Marten Elkerbout discovered with some disbelief that his school, the Amsterdam Barlaeus gymnasium, is receiving 380,000 euros for its non-existent deprived pupils. According to the ministry, 53 percent of the Barlaeus pupils come from a problem district, Trouw newspaper reported yesterday.

The ministry has charted 310 'problem accumulation areas.' Nearly half (126) are in one of the four big cities (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht). The total subsidy available is 75 million euros annually.

Other Amsterdam gymnasium schools also receive money from the deprivation fund, according to Trouw. Conversely, there are schools that do have many immigrant children but receive no money. This applies mainly to schools with more than one branch, of which one or two are 'black' but the rest mainly 'white,' so that on average they do not qualify.