Dutch state secretary orders action over school governance failures

Dutch state secretary Judith Tielen has ordered the board of the Islamic Education Foundation to take immediate steps to improve teaching at Cornelius Haga Lyceum, after the education inspectorate found serious shortcomings in its governance.

The order requires the foundation to draw up a realistic, financially sustainable plan to improve both board operations and education quality, and to add two members to its board. It must report progress to the education ministry every four weeks. If it fails to comply, the state secretary can withhold funding, the government said.

Tielen described the intervention as necessary after repeated failures to deliver lasting improvement. “It is unacceptable that these pupils receive inadequate education every day,” she said. “The board has repeatedly failed to take responsibility. As far as I am concerned, enough is enough; improvement for these pupils is urgent.”

The inspectorate had previously rated the school’s education quality as very weak or inadequate and issued the board several orders to make improvements, as well as funding sanctions. Before the summer, it investigated the board’s conduct and concluded that it fell seriously short and amounted to mismanagement, according to the government.

The government says the directive is the state secretary’s strongest legal instrument in cases of mismanagement.