Students and teachers of primary school De Zwaluw in Zandpol. Front left is Bianca Sint with her son Kyle. Director Mirella Peters can just be seen at the back right, with blond curls and a red-black block shirt. Photo: Jan Anninga
It wasn’t dark clouds that gathered over Zandpol in 2016. No, they were jet black. De Zwaluw, the only primary school in the village, had to be closed for good after more than ninety years. Too few students. The only question was when the school would close, 2016 or 2017. ,,At the moment 24 children are going to De Zwaluw and according to the forecasts this will be another 20 after the summer. The question is whether you should start a new and very last school year with so few students,” said the education foundation Viviani in February 2016.