Segregation no longer government priority   

By The Holland Times Monday 07 February 2011, 16:02

The fight against segregation in education is no longer government policy. "Black schools are a fact," said CDA Minister Marja van Bijsterveldt Monday in an interview with de Volkskrant. 

"It's about quality of education," said Van Bijsterveldt. "White or black is less important."

Her decision as the Minister of Education represents a major change in policy. In previous governments the issue was always on the agenda. In fact, seven years ago the CDA was a pioneer of mixing ethnic groups in Rotterdam schools. 

The 2007 coalition agreement between the CDA and PvdA outlined plans to establish a registration time for primary school children to ensure that indigenous parents are better informed about local schools. 

Protests against school segregation have been heard in recent years. According to Van Bijsterveldt, that does not mean they will pull the plug on these projects, but they will no longer be a priority.  

"It's good when people from different cultures meet," said Van Bijsterveldt. "But for me as minister fighting segregation is in itself irrelevant." 

Bijsterveldt also wants to better support the connection between secondary vocational education and vocational education. Currently, she is preparing a bill that would make it possible for a MBO-program to establish a seamless transition to VMBO.