Netherlands - Austerity Mania : Government closes down thriving International School in Almere - by RM

The International School Almere

One of the selling points of the Netherlands most modern city Almere to attract International companies to the area is its International school .

Everyone seems to understand this except maybe the austerity obsessed Government.

In the "budget cutting austerity mania", which presently has the Dutch  Rutte Government in its grip, they decided to close down the thriving International School.of Almere.

The school presently has more than 200 pupils, aged 12 to 19, and a professional staff of 23.

The new euro 8 million Almere International School was inaugurated  only two years ago replacing the old International school which had become too small

The reasons given by the Ministry of Education (OCW) for closing the school was that they did not meet the new Government license requirements to receive any further government subsidy (as most public schools in the Netherlands do). The new Government Educational license includes a variety of directives which have a direct affect on  the budget, management and operations of  Dutch schools.

Student and parents occupy the International School Almere

Even though the Almere International School and the government had various discussions on the subject they did not reach an agreement.  Consequently, since its present Government educational license had expired  the International School of Almere was told by the Government this week to close its doors.  Summer vacation recess for Dutch schools started on Friday.

Some 88 angry pupils and their parents occupied the building of the Almere International School in protest of the closure and  slept in the school premises Friday night.

The occupation ended a few hours ago after the occupiers were told  by the school board that talks will be held with the Almere city council and government officials to try and find a solution.

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