None of the Netherlands’ 40 plus Islamic primary schools are still classified as ‘very weak’ and only a handful can be considered ‘weak’, according to education ministry statistics quoted by the Volkskrant.
The improvement comes after three years of intensive efforts following the publication of a damning report on standards and management in Islamic education in 2008.
When the report was published, 11 schools were classified as weak and six as very weak. Since then, Amsterdam’s only Islamic secondary school has been closed down for failing to meet ministry standards.
Primary school standards have improved sharply nation-wide, ministry figures show. In 2009, 108 schools were classified as ‘very weak’, and that has now been reduced to 26.