Schools have been taken by surprise by education minister Marja van Bijsterveldt’s positive reaction to a PVV motion to return to 1,040 teaching hours a year, reports Trouw.

Two years ago, the number of teaching hours was lowered to 1,000 hours a year, following widespread protests from pupils who complained the extra 40 hours led to pointless classes just to reach the target.
However, that agreement between the minister, school governors and teaching unions was never made law.
Now, ahead of a parliamentary debate on Tuesday afternoon, the PVV says it wants the extra 40 hours put back because it will be good for educational quality, says Trouw. The minister agrees.
The trouble is that 40 extra hours means more teaching staff with no money available to employ them. ‘The result will be that schools will use creative thinking to fill the hours,’ Marten Elkerbout, rector of the Barlaeus school in Amsterdam, told the paper.