News item | 24-05-2023 | 5:02 PM
At school, children learn everything about our democratic constitutional state. About freedom, that you can be who you want to be, you can believe in what you believe, and that you can fall in love with whoever you want. Many children also receive informal education, for example lessons about a second language, religion or culture. That is very often an enrichment, such as learning about the origin of your family or the language of your grandparents. But sometimes things go wrong. In that case, it is important to prevent children from being taught a hostile attitude towards other population groups. Education, whether formal or informal, should never place children with their backs against our society and our values. They must be protected against that. In November last year, Minister Wiersma for Primary and Secondary Education announced measures. There are now outlines for a bill to investigate possible abuses earlier on the basis of signals and to intervene where necessary.
The government is responsible for ensuring that schools are a free and safe environment. The cabinet now also wants to regulate this for informal education, where many children receive extra education, but where there is still no form of supervision. The government can help improve the quality of informal education, for example by providing teaching materials. The proposed bill provides for action to be taken in the event of signals that informal education incites children to hatred, violence or discrimination.
Minister Wiersma: “It is a sensitive subject. I have spoken with many religious and non-religious parties and I have great admiration for the way in which so many volunteers are committed to the development of groups of children. These conversations have also strengthened my conviction that informal education can be a valuable addition. That is precisely why we want to organize supervision of excesses in informal education. The many organizations that have their affairs in order should not be bothered by those who knowingly incite children against society. I want to ensure that regular and informal education are places where all children can develop in freedom and safety.”
Scope of the proposed bill
The proposed bill relates to informal education: lessons outside normal school hours that are organized by private parties. It will oversee all activities aimed at the systematic transfer of knowledge, skills or attitudes to children between the ages of 4 and 17 by a legal person or a natural person.
Prohibition of incitement to hatred, violence and discrimination
The proposed bill is in line with concepts that we also know from criminal law: action can be taken if it appears that informal education incites hatred, violence or discrimination. These concepts also indicate a direction on which signals can be based.
The Education Inspectorate is considering whether these signals are serious and serious enough to conduct further investigation and to assess whether the law is actually being violated. It’s about signal-driven surveillance. That means investigating signals from the police or other authorities, not just any random signal. On the basis of the General Administrative Law Act, the Inspectorate can then enter an informal educational institution, request information and enforce cooperation.
If there is incitement to hatred, violence or discrimination and the Inspectorate identifies and establishes a violation, the Minister can issue an instruction. This can consist of no informal education at all for minors, no informal education for minors through the use of a particular teacher or guest speaker, or the removal of certain teaching materials.