The secondary schools in Stevensbeek and Mill are closing. That was announced on Wednesday. The main reason is that in the future there will not be enough students to fill the classrooms.
There are fewer and fewer high school students in the region. In 2019, there were still about five thousand students in the municipalities that now together form Land van Cuijk. In 2025 there will be only four thousand, according to figures from Voinon, an institute that keeps track of those figures.
A good example is the location of the Merlet College in Mill. There are now about 400 students from the VMBO and the lower years of the HAVO. “But we are really seeing an exodus from the school,” says Rector Iedje Heeren. “In Mill, it’s about thirty percent fewer students in the future.”
Regional School Group
To deal with the problem of the ever declining number of students, the three schools in the Land van Cuijk and Maasduinen (Gennep) region want to merge into one regional school group. And that has consequences for the location in Mill, which will close in the long term. The Metameer location in Stevensbeek with more than 700 students will also close in the future if the plans go ahead.
Fewer and fewer VMBO students
The fact that fewer and fewer pupils are going to pre-vocational secondary education in Mill is not only due to the birth rates. For some time now, there has been a new way in which primary school children receive advice about further education. As a result, the advice at which level they can handle secondary school is higher. “So there are fewer VMBO students,” says Heeren.
These three schools want to merge into a school group:
- Elzendaal College (Boxemeer and Gennep)
- Merlet College (Cuijk, Grave, Mill and Velp)
- Metameer (Stevensbeek and Boxmeer)
The locations in Mill and Stevensbeek will therefore disappear. When that will happen is not yet clear. For the time being, it is a recommendation from the rectors of the three schools to the Board of Directors of the Ons Middelbaar Onderwijs association.
What is certain is that all students who have now started at the school in Mill en Stevensbeek in the first year can stay there until the end of their education. Ultimately, education will go to Boxmeer, Cuijk and Grave.