Primary and Secondary Education Minister Arie Slob has wrongly demanded that the board of the Cornelius Haga Lyceum in Amsterdam should resign. The court in Amsterdam ruled Monday that there is insufficient reason to dismiss the school board.
According to the court, the maladministration of the school is “considerably less comprehensive and less serious” than the minister said. In addition, the measure may only be taken if it is not possible to take less far-reaching measures. Minister Slob has not shown that there were no other options to solve the problems at the school, the court said.
The ruling follows in a lengthy process around the Amsterdam Lyceum. The school became discredited in the spring of 2019 after the General Intelligence and Security Service (AIVD) had received “serious signals” about the school’s administrative and financial actions.
In addition, the students would be taught by teachers who are in a Salafist environment. These teachers would like to spend half the time on the fundamentalist movement within Islam. However, there is no evidence that the school pursues salafist education.
The Education Inspectorate published a critical report about the school in July 2019, which stated that there was financial mismanagement and conflicts of interest within the school. The Inspectorate also believed that relations with external parties were damaged and that citizenship education was insufficient.
Following the report, Minister Slob demanded the departure of the board. When this did not happen within the set period, he stopped financing the school.
The case came before the Council of State, which decided that Minister Slob was not allowed to stop financing as of 1 December, because he would then not comply with his own policy rules.
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