News item | 17-02-2023 | 06:50
The municipality of Amsterdam, together with the National Coordinator for Combating Anti-Semitism (NCAB), will set up a support center for schools, where they can go with questions about Holocaust education and anti-Semitism. For example, the support center can refer to different teaching methods and offer pedagogical support to make discussing the Holocaust easier. The NCAB and the municipality of Amsterdam will enter into discussions with the Amsterdam educational field and experts about the details of the support centre.
Recent research by the Anne Frank House showed that 14% of secondary school teachers have been confronted with denial or trivialization of the Holocaust in the past year. 42% of them witnessed anti-Semitic incidents in the classroom. The collaboration stems from the NCAB’s Anti-Semitism Work Plan and is intended to contribute to the quality and reach of Holocaust education.
Eddo Verdoner (National Anti-Semitism Coordinator):
“Holocaust education is a crucial part of the fight against anti-Semitism, discrimination and exclusion. This dark period of our history should not pass by any student. It is therefore important to consider how we can organize assistance to teachers who request it as easily as possible. I am pleased that Amsterdam is the first municipality to take a pioneering role in this and I want to start discussions elsewhere in the country to offer local support there as well.”
Alderman Moorman (Education):
“We cannot and do not want to look away if the horrific facts of the Holocaust are insufficiently known to so many people. We must help the schools that need support with this. That is why the municipality wants to provide schools with the necessary support to make this subject a subject for discussion in the classroom. I am pleased that we are going to set up an information point together with the National Coordinator for Combating Anti-Semitism.”