‘Move carnival’. The Ministry of Education responded with words to that effect after they were pointed out by school directors that the transfer test for students in group 8 coincides with carnival next year. That official response not only led to irritation and ridicule at the schools. MPs also shake their heads at such a stupid answer, which painfully reflects the gap between the south of the Netherlands and The Hague. After earlier D66, the CDA asked parliamentary questions on Tuesday about the special answer from The Hague.
The transfer test will replace the well-known Cito test from next year, to assess which type of further education suits a student best.
The transfer test must be taken by the ministry between 5 and 15 February. Carnival starts on the weekend of February 10. That leaves little room to deviate. The week before, there are various special activities at many schools in Brabant, including a carnival celebration. The following week is school holiday.
“I had to laugh at the stupidity of the answer.”
“Is it correct that the ministry has informed schools that they should move the ‘event’ carnival? Do you agree that carnival is part of Dutch culture, after all it is intangible heritage, and this is therefore not an event? ,” that is how members of parliament René Peters, Mustafa Amhaouch and Inge van Dijk (all CDA) fire a number of questions at the minister. It is no coincidence that it is precisely these politicians who come up with the questions. All three come from the south, Peters’ cradle was in Oss and Van Dijk’s was in Helmond.
“If it had been answered that it had simply not been thought of and it was promised that things would go better in terms of planning in the future, then I would have understood that. But saying that you just have to reschedule the event. Then you really don’t understand anything of carnival,” Peters told Omroep Brabant. “The answer is so trivial it’s almost funny, I had to laugh at the stupidity.”
“In The Hague they really don’t understand carnival.”
According to him, it says something about the atmosphere in The Hague. “In 2018, Björn van der Doelen came to The Hague with a request to declare Carnival an official holiday. It was an action together with Bavaria, the petition was signed more than 170,000 times. A fun initiative of course. But in The Hague they took it seriously They really don’t understand carnival.”
The transfer test takes two days. Still, according to Peters, it is difficult to plan in the week before carnival. “Think of builders or members of the harmony, who are then fully engaged in the final preparations. And in many villages and towns, the Prince comes to the schools. That is really not a good time for such an important test.”
The officials in The Hague clearly need a lesson in carnival culture. Is it an idea to take them to Oss in February, where Peters himself hosts. “Good idea, I’ll invite a delegation.”
