Minister Dennis Wiersma (Primary and Secondary Education, VVD) “out of ambition and passion, has been sharp and sometimes fierce against civil servants” in the first period of his ministry. His ministry announced this on Friday NRC. “He recognized at the time that this was not good.”
The Telegraph reported Friday that Wiersma “raged like a madman”. Anonymous officials reportedly said he screamed, slammed doors and brought people to tears. Young, novice civil servants in particular would have been the target.
According to the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, that period is now behind us. The minister has “taken action” and “several discussions have been held between the minister, executives and employees” about cooperation “given the high pressure and the demanding of the work”. The minister will continue to have those conversations, according to the ministry.
External investigation
From September to January, the Ministry of Education commissioned an external investigation due to signals of undesirable behavior at part of the organisation. It is not known exactly which part it concerns. These signals are separate from the reports about Wiersma, the ministry emphasizes. The investigation would have shown that there were “undesirable forms of behaviour”, but not so serious that “employment law consequences” followed.
In this study, too, “various and intensive discussions were held” and then “lessons were learned”. Because the content of those conversations is secret, the ministry does not want to say anything about it.