Mariëlle Paul, outgoing Minister for Primary and Secondary Education, has also expressed her concerns about the educational quality of Klein Amsterdam primary school in Noord. A letter she sent to the House of Representatives today shows that the school will come under the direct supervision of the minister and that closure is a realistic option.
The fact that Klein Amsterdam would close was also announced at the beginning of October by the school’s then board. The reason was a damning assessment by the education inspectorate, which placed the school under increased supervision in June because the quality of education was said to be substandard. The school’s finances are also said to be out of order.
There is now a new board that is looking for a restart, partly because the parents of the students are opposed to the closure.
‘Little improvement’
But if it were up to the minister, the future prospects are still ‘very uncertain’. In her brief let Paul know that from now on the school will be under the strictest possible supervision. This means that any measures are no longer taken by the education inspectorate, but by the minister himself.
Paul writes that the school has done little to improve the situation after the education inspectorate’s assessment. It is also alleged that no improvement plan has been drawn up that is of ‘sufficient quality’. “I share the concerns of the inspectorate that it seems as if the seriousness of the situation has not been recognized for a long time and that there has not been proper communication with parents about the situation at the school.”
Paul says he is currently considering measures “to be able to offer the students of this school the quality education they are entitled to as quickly as possible.”
Competition
Klein Amsterdam, which has 240 students, has existed since 2018. It stems from a concept called Learning in the Between Space. The idea is that children learn not only from books, but also from what happens in their environment.
That concept was selected three years earlier as one of the best entries for the ‘Our New School’ competition. With this competition, then councilor Simone Kukenheim wanted to stimulate the development of new educational concepts.
2023-12-04 21:40:50
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