Thousands of people are set to miss the January 1 deadline for passing exams designed to assess how integrated they are into Dutch society, BNR radio reports.

The ‘inburgering’ system was shaken up in 2013. The government’s education agency Duo was given a target of ensuring over 10,000 people took integration classes and passed the test within three years.

However, well over 6,000 of them still have to do so and it will be impossible for them all to take the test before the end of the year, experts say

One reason for the delay is that people now have to pay for the courses and the exams themselves, although they can borrow money from Duo. But this has discouraged many people from taking part, course providers say.

In addition, the quality of many of the courses leaves much to be desired, experts told BNR.

VVD parliamentarian Sjoerd Potters called on social affairs minister Lodewijk Asscher to take action. ‘We made a deal in 2013 that a large group of people have to take integration courses and it is not happening. Something needs to be done,’ Potters said.

Have you been through an ‘inburgering’ process? We’d be interested in your experiences. email editor@dutchnews.nl