Misunderstanding and disappointment. These feelings prevail among students and parents of the Ukrainian school in Breda. The school will probably have to close after the summer. Protest against this is growing every day. CDA leader Henri Bontenbal is now also asking the cabinet whether the school can remain open.
“Disastrous for the students,” is how Rob Neutelings, chairman of the board at Curio, describes the threatened closure. “We remain combative and try to put maximum pressure on the ministry.”
Closure
94 Ukrainian young people receive lessons at the school on Tuinzigtlaan, which was founded especially for this purpose last year. These are students aged ten to eighteen. The Ukrainian School gives one third of the lessons in Dutch and two thirds in the Ukrainian language.
This way, students have two perspectives: return to their country of birth or advancement in the Dutch education system. “This way they will soon be able to move on without falling behind.” A unique way of teaching, say the municipality of Breda and the school itself. Both Dutch and Ukrainian teachers work at the school.
Yet the school will soon be over, if the ministry has its way. The so-called ‘Temporary Education Facility’ scheme will end on July 14. And that is striking: the time that Ukrainians are allowed to stay is until March 2025. “The left hand of the government does not know what the right hand is doing,” sighs Neutelings. And so the call is: let the school exist for another school year.
Rescue efforts
Bontenbal’s parliamentary questions are not the first rescue attempt. The Ukrainian ambassador visited the school last week as a show of support. “Heart-warming, that all helps enormously,” says the chairman. The Breda city council also called for the school to be kept open. “Unanimous! I have never seen this before. From Forum for Democracy to the Party for the Animals: everyone supported us.”
“I can give you a note that these students will soon be back at home.” And homeschooling is precisely something that should be avoided, according to the school administrator. He thinks back to the corona period. “They suffer directly from this. Between the ages of ten and eighteen it is so important to sit together in real life. They learn from their peers.”
The Ministry of Education, Culture and Science wants students to go to regular schools. “It is undesirable to offer a group of children another form of education for too long. They will then not be sufficiently prepared for participation in Dutch society. The longer an exceptional situation lasts, the more difficult it becomes to allow children to participate. contribute to Dutch education,” writes a spokesperson.
The school emphasizes that it is important to continue following Ukrainian education if the students return to Ukraine. Educational institutions Curio and Markant-LeerSaam are in discussions with the ministry. Did all the support help? “No, nothing has changed yet, but we remain hopeful,” Neutelings continues.