News item | 31-05-2022 | 4:00 pm
A total of 56 initiators have submitted an application to set up a new school with government funding. Of these applications, 34 initiatives meet the legal requirements. They will receive money from the government to start the school as of August 2023. It is the first time that the initiatives have been assessed under the new More Room for New Schools Act.
Minister Dennis Wiersma (Primary and Secondary Education): †We have freedom of education in our country, in which there is room to found new schools. At the same time, we are also critical: they must be good schools. With this new law, we see that a number of schools are not allowed to start, because the Inspectorate expects that students will not receive a good education here. That is unacceptable. As a school you have to meet high standards, for example when it comes to citizenship education, so that all students leave school with a solid foundation.†
Quality test
According to the new law, which came into effect in November 2021, schools will only receive funding if there is sufficient interest from parents and after a positive quality assessment by the Education Inspectorate. The Inspectorate assesses the expected quality on the basis of, among other things, the content of the education and facilities for pupils who need extra support. This year 40 applications were submitted for primary education and 16 applications for secondary education. Most applications were made by existing boards.
Primary school
In primary education, there were 29 applications to set up a new school and 11 applications to privatize secondary locations. Of the 29 applications for new schools, 22 have been approved. Other initiatives withdrew, could count on too little interest from parents or received a negative advice from the inspectorate because the expected quality of education was insufficient. Of the 11 applications for privatization, one withdrew. The other 10 applications have been approved.
Secondary education
Of the 16 applications in secondary education, 2 have been approved. Most applications received a negative advice from the Inspectorate, usually because the Inspectorate found the details of citizenship education insufficient. Approximately half of the applications also failed to submit sufficient parental declarations.
More space?
Despite the higher requirements to start a school, the number of positive applications in primary education has approximately doubled. No increase can be seen in secondary education. The increase in primary education can probably be explained by the large number of applicants who have waited for the new foundation procedure. These applicants did not gain a foothold under the old foundation system. In the past, the foundation of special schools was based on a ‘direction’, such as Roman Catholic. Founding a new school near a school of the same specialization was very difficult, even though a different educational concept was used. In the new law, direction no longer plays a role in the decision to fund new schools.