The education ministry is closing down an evangelical primary school in Rotterdam and Utrecht because of the extremely poor levels of education provided.

The Timon school in Rotterdam will shut on January 1, as will its Utrecht annex, which operates under the name Talitha.

The Rotterdam school has 63 pupils and many parents were concerned about standards, Rotterdam council alderman Hugo de Jonge said earlier this week. There was also a lot of aggression between pupils, he said.

The Rotterdam school opened in 2010 and took over the Utrecht operation when it failed to attract enough pupils. New schools are given five years to draw in 300 pupils or face closure.

Junior education minister Sander Dekker is angry about the way schools open and close in a few years after failing to attract enough pupils, news agency ANP reports.

He is now considering developing a new system which will give more scope to the establishment of new, non-faith schools but set tougher launch requirements.