Moisture spots, mould, leaks and poor ventilation. Things are not going well with primary school de Biezenkring in Dongen. The school building in Dongen is more than fifty years old and is one of the 4600 schools in the Netherlands that are in urgent need of replacement. This is evident from new figures from Bouwend Nederland, the largest association of construction companies.
The school building in Dongen is in such a bad state that it is actually not healthy for the children to be taught there. The Youth News spoke with a number of students in Dongen. “At the beginning of the school year, all these ceiling plates were replaced and now it is leaking again,” pupil Mare tells the Jeugdjournaal.
“I sometimes have very cold hands and that is very annoying to write with.”
The school has damage and leaks, but the main problem is ventilation. “As soon as the children enter the classrooms, the CO2 meters shoot up, which means that the windows also have to be opened in the winter. “I am now wearing leggings underneath because I was very cold at school yesterday,” says Femke. Brent tells. : “I sometimes have very cold hands and that is very annoying to write with.”
The municipality had promised that a new building would be built this year. That is why major renovations were postponed. But that has recently been discontinued, because another school has closed that would go together with De Biezenkring. As a result, new plans have to be made and the new building will only be completed in four years.
“Nothing is being done for us anyway.”
A group of children from the school therefore made themselves heard during a council meeting on Thursday evening. “We had signs that said: ‘We are just numbers, keep walking,'” says one of the students. “That means: we don’t get any attention anyway, nothing is done for us anyway.”
The PO Council and Bouwend Nederland, together with about 20 other organizations, have made an appeal to the cabinet in a manifesto. They want 730 million euros to be invested and a plan to be drawn up to tackle outdated schools such as the one in Dongen.
