Education minister threatens to pull funding from Islamic school

Junior education minister Judith Tielen has threatened to withdraw funding from an Islamic secondary school in Amsterdam unless it drastically improves exam performance.

The Cornelius Haga Lyceum has been told to appoint two extra board members, draw up a plan for improvements and send a progress report to the ministry every four weeks.

Tielen said it was “unacceptable that these pupils receive a substandard education every day” after inspectors found that their results were lagging behind children in other schools.

“School should be a place where children can develop and make progress,” Tielen said. “School administrators have a responsibility to make sure of that.”

Inspectors concluded in July that the Islamic Education Foundation (SIO), which runs the school, was guilty of mismanagement and the quality of education on offer was below acceptable standards.

In the last three years only 35% of students at the mavo level, a vocational stream, passed their exams, against a national average of 91%.

Wouter Pors, the lawyer for the school, told NOS that the board accepted the need for improvements, but the government was partly responsible for the problems.

“It is difficult for all schools to find qualified teachers, but for the Haga Lyceum it is even harder in practice. Applicants for secondary roles regularly withdraw, which leads to high numbers of lessons being cancelled.”