The primary school for Ukrainian children in Hoogeveen seems to be coming. Within a few weeks, the former vaccination location on Vos van Steenwijklaan should be ready to welcome the first students.
This is apparent from a conversation that the municipality had on Wednesday with Stichting Herderskinderen and the school boards of PricoH and Bijeen. The parties will work together on a teaching program and will discuss the design of the school.
Alderman Mark Tuit is happy that the parties have come to an agreement. “The children for whom the school is intended have been through a lot. We can now offer them peace, structure and good education in the new school.”
He previously indicated that the arrival of a primary school for Ukrainian children is a necessity. The students have recently been taken care of at the two locations for non-native speakers of PricoH and Bijeen, but these are now full. According to Tuit, this is due to the increasing influx of Ukrainian children and the uncertainty about how long childcare in the Netherlands and in the Hoogeveen region will be needed.
The new school is expected to fulfill a regional function, because there is a good chance that the influx of Ukrainian children will increase in the winter. Jacqueline Verheggen, director of Bijeen, says she supports the collaboration on behalf of her school and PricoH. “We hope to open for these children soon.”
The plan for a school has been around for a while. In April, the first talks were held to provide lessons at the Vos van Steenwijklaan. Due to too few registrations and a lack of teaching staff, this did not take place at the time.
That went down the wrong way for Daniela Bolks and Janny Kleine from Hoogeveen. They have founded the Shepherd Children’s Foundation and are volunteers at the distribution point for Ukrainians in the municipality. When they were told that the plans for the school were temporarily on hold, they came up with the idea of starting their own school.
After discussions with the municipality and the school boards, a collaboration was established between all parties. After the summer, the municipality will have about forty Ukrainian children. That is enough to start a school now, says Tuit.
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