Minister scraps exam question after protest

Junior education minister Marja van Bijsterveldt has scrapped a question from yesterday’s pre-college level Dutch test because it was politically-biased, news agency ANP said on Tuesday.


Liberal party MPs had protested about the question, which used text from the VVD’s website and asked politically-charged questions.
The exam paper stated that the text, about not smothering the jobless with social security benefits, was negative and condescending towards people claiming benefit. None of the six optional answers gave pupils the chance to disagree.
‘Political preferences popping up in exams, whoever comes up with such a thing?, VVD MP Ineke Dezentjé said in Tuesday’s Telegraaf. ‘This is the school as the museum for left-wing ideas from the 1970s.’

Thank you for donating to DutchNews.nl.

We could not provide the Dutch News service, and keep it free of charge, without the generous support of our readers. Your donations allow us to report on issues you tell us matter, and provide you with a summary of the most important Dutch news each day.

Make a donation